Collaborative Post: Pamela Pryor, Kristy Erwin

Technical writing is communicating specialized information, most often dealing with or relating to a mechanical or scientific subject, through words and images. Initially, before anything is written, Technical writers are faced with the issue of researching and evaluating data. For the purposes of completing tasks, resolving problems, answering questions, or reaching conclusions, Technical writers must take this collected data and write in a manner that is comprehendible to the general audience. Most often, the general audience is comprised of diversified employees in a workplace environment. Since technical writing is objective, its use will never be to entertain readers. Technical writers must maintain the ability to communicate a process or product so it ultimately enables these readers to efficiently perform the concept. Therefore they must be straight-forward, creative, accurate, and efficient so the information is both appealing and informative. However, the key to success in technical writing is the knowledge of the reader’s characteristics, behaviors, education levels, etc. Only then can technical writers truly identify the most effective way of communicating with the intended audience.