Questions A Technical Writer Must Answer

Technical writing projects can come in many shapes and sizes. The variety of projects and document types can be astounding. But then to most of us, this variety is the spice that makes technical writing an exciting career. When accomplishing these projects or creating documents, a technical writer must right to satisfy the requirements of the customer. They may specify format, content, tone, audience level and many other details of the final product. Irregardless of the differences in customer requirements, technical writers must also keep in mind throughout the entire writing process that readers have basic questions that must be answered by any document.

The reader's questions may seem basic, but no document is complete without answering them. First, a reader wants to know what the document is about. In technical writing, this is usually accomplished in an Introduction section or paragraph. This description of the document contents may include a list of the topics covered, or a summary of the overall project.

Second, the reader wants to know why this was sent to him. Unless he is the customer that requested the technical documentation, then he is a user. This information may be conveyed through a statement of scope. The scope of the document may describe the type of users, the applications for the document, or other limitations on use of the information in the document.

In certain instances, a technical writing document may include information for users on schedule or how long a process will take if the steps described in the document are followed. This answers the reader question concerning when or how long it will take the user to accomplish the described tasks. Some technical writing documents may include information on process cycle times, completion schedules, or audit schedules.

The most important information a technical writer can convey in a document is how to accomplish an activity. It doesn't matter if a reader needs to know how to use a particular software program or if they want to learn how to operate a piece of machinery, technical writing documents are developed to convey that information. Technical writing is designed to convey facts, data, processes, and procedures to proposed users and others. Technical writing, in this sense is educational. If a technical writer writes clearly and concisely, the reader should learn something from reading it.

Finally, readers will look for information that is unimportant. They look for reasons to skip information. It's a natural sorting process that begins when they first skim the document. So for technical writers, it's positively critical that documents be pared down to the essential information, without fluff, superfluous information or haughty language. As Joe Friday used to say on the police show Dragnet, "Just the facts ma'am."