Definition:

Written communications done on the job, especially in fields with specialized vocabularies, such as science, engineering, technology, and the health sciences. (Along with business writing, technical writing is often subsumed under the heading of professional communication.)

The Society for Technical Communication (STC) offers this definition of technical writing: "the process of gathering information from experts and presenting it to an audience in a clear, easily understandable form."

In an influential article published in 1965, W.

Earl Britton concluded that the essential characteristic of technical writing is "the effort of the author to convey one meaning and only one meaning in what he says."

Computer science professor Raymond Greenlaw notes that the "writing style in technical writing is more prescriptive than in creative writing. In technical writing we are not so much concerned about entertaining the audience as we are about conveying specific information to our readers in a concise and precise manner" (Technical Writing, Presentational Skills, and Online Communication, 2012).

See Examples and Observations below. Also see:

• 20 Quick Tips for Business and Technical Writers
• Collaborative Writing
• Documentation
• Graphics
• How to Write a Professional Email
• Online Writing
• Plain English
• Proofreading Tips
• Science Writing
• Ten Quick Tips to Improve Your Writing
• Top Ten Editing Tips for Business Writers
• Twelve Tips for Improving Online Writing
• What Is the "You Attitude"?

Examples and Observations:

• "The goal of technical writing is to enable readers to use a technology or understand a process or concept. Because the subject matter is more important than the writer's voice, technical writing style uses an objective, not a subjective, tone. The writing style is direct and utilitarian, emphasizing exactness and clarity rather than elegance or allusiveness. A technical writer uses figurative language only when a figure of speech would facilitate understanding."
  (Gerald J. Alred, et al., Handbook of Technical Writing. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006)

• Characteristics of Technical Writing
  Here are the main characteristics of technical writing:
  • Purpose: Getting something done within an organization (completing a project, persuading a customer, pleasing your boss, etc.)
  • Your knowledge of topic: Usually greater than that of the reader.
  • Audience: Often several people, with differing technical backgrounds.
  • Criteria for Evaluation: Clear and simple organization of ideas, in a format that meets the needs of busy readers.
  • Statistical and graphic support: Frequently used to explain existing conditions and to present alternative courses of action.
  (William Sanborn Pfeiffer, Technical Writing: A Practical Approach. Prentice Hall, 2003)
   
• Audience and Purpose in Technical Writing
  "The biggest difference between technical communication and the other kinds of writing you have done is that technical communication has a somewhat different focus on audience and purpose.
  
  "In most of your previous academic writing, your audience has been your instructor, and your purpose has been to show your instructor that you have mastered some skill or body of information. . . .
  
  "By contrast, in technical communication in the workplace, your audience will likely include peers and supervisors in your company, and perhaps people outside your company as well. Your purpose will likely be to reinforce or change their attitudes toward the subject you are writing about, motivate them to take particular actions, or help them to carry out their own jobs. . . .
  
  "In other words, technical communication responds to the needs of a particular audience and has a clear, specific purpose in the real world."
  (Mike Markel, Technical Communication, 9th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010)