Characteristics of High-Quality Technical Writing?
Writing, technical or otherwise, plays a large role in each of our lives. From daily emails and official correspondence to reports and other industrial documents, good technical writing is consistently important.
When you are writing technical documents, it is important that your document, article, white paper or anything else that you are writing follows good technical writing characteristics: Accuracy, clarity, targeted for an intended audience, simple and concise, in depth, and communicative and logical.
Keeping each of these points in mind while writing will help you write documents and communications that will always accomplish your goal.
1. Accuracy and Clarity
No matter what you are writing, the main purpose is to be accurate so the reader can clearly understand the meaning. How to be understood comes from writing clearly and correctly. There are a few ways to guarantee clarity.
First, grammar is obviously a necessary requirement. Grammatical errors, incomplete sentences, and confusing word choice or sentence structure will hinder you from being understood. If what you are writing isn’t required reading, this will also lead to the reader giving up on what you wrote.
Your knowledge of the topic is also very important. Understanding what you want to say, understanding the information you are providing makes it much easier for your writing to be understood by the reader.
2. Targeted for an intended audience
When writing technical documents ensure the writing style meets the needs of the specific audience you are targeting. That includes the usage of the right vocabulary, terms and definitions your audience recognizes.
3. Simplicity to Avoid Confusion
An often overlooked secret to great writing is to write simply. Short sentences and simple words might feel elementary when writing but will go further in guaranteeing the writing is understood.
Simple writing also helps you avoid tricky grammatical situations and lessens the chance of grammatical errors. Run-on sentences and incorrect punctuation will also be avoided by writing simply.
Some of the greatest writers understood the power of simplicity. Mark Twain’s opinion of flowery language: “As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out.” This is even true outside of novels for professional writing. Thomas Jefferson explains, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”
4. In-Depth
Technical writing should be comprehensive covering the entire scope or process. If you are writing about instructions on how to use a medical device, your audience expects you to explain in a step-by-step style that is easy to follow and logical. The goal should be to help the end user achieve the intended purpose.
5. Communication Is Key
With all of this said, it is important to not forget the purpose of any writing: communication. Whether you are informing about a topic, requesting an action, or asking a question, you are communicating.
This means you will need to always keep your reader in mind while writing. What information do they currently have? What do you want them to know after reading? Are you persuading or just informing?
Writing for a particular audience will drive what you write and how you write. With technical writing, knowing your audience is even more important because the topic might require understanding a certain industry or profession.
CfPIE: Your Source for Technical Writing Training
Since clear and concise communication is so important when it comes to technical writing, our training course “Technical Writing for Pharma, Biotech and Med Devices” is beneficial for all. The course will help you learn how to organize and deliver information for the intended audience, as well as how to write clear and readable documents, and how to revise and refine your own and others' writing.
Whether you are considering a career in medical writing or you are looking to take your writing skills to a whole new level, you will find CfPIE's course comprehensive and learn the fundamentals of effective writing in the regulated environment
Have questions? Get in touch with a member of the CfPIE team by calling 1-610-648-7550 or emailing [email protected].
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