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Snippet from Wikipedia: Technical writing

Technical writing is a specialized form of communication used by industrial and scientific organizations to clearly and accurately convey complex information to customers, employees, assembly workers, engineers, scientists and other users who may reference this form of content to complete a task or research a subject. Most technical writing relies on simplified grammar, supported by easy-to-understand visual communication to clearly and accurately explain complex information.

Technical writing is a labor-intensive form of writing that demands accurate research of a subject and the conversion of the collected information into a written format, style, and reading level the end-user will easily understand or connect with. There are two main forms of technical writing. By far, the most common form of technical writing is procedural documentation written for both the trained expert and the general public to understand (e.g., standardized step-by-step guides and standard operating procedures (SOPs)).

• Procedural technical writing is used in all types of manufacturing to explain user operation, assembly, installation instructions, and personnel work/safety steps in clear and simple ways.
• Written procedures are widely used in manufacturing, software development, medical research, and many other scientific fields.

The software industry has grown into one of the largest users of technical writing and relies on procedural documents to describe a program's user operation and installation instructions.

In most cases, however, technical writing is used to help convey complex scientific or niche subjects to end users with a wide range of comprehension. To ensure the content is understood by all, plain language is used, and only factual content is provided. Modern procedural technical writing relies on simple terms and short sentences rather than detailed explanations with unnecessary information like personal pronouns, abstract words, and unfamiliar acronyms. To achieve the right grammar; procedural documents are written from a third-person, objective perspective with an active voice and formal tone. Technical writing grammar is very similar to print journalism and follows a very similar style of grammar.

Although technical writing plays an integral role in the work of engineering, health care, and science; it does not require a degree in any of these fields. Instead, the document's author must be an expert in technical writing. An organization's subject-matter experts, internal specifications, and a formal engineering review process are relied upon to ensure accuracy. The division of labor helps bring greater focus to the two sides of an organization's documentation. Most technical writers hold a liberal arts degree in a writing discipline, such as technical communication, journalism, English, technical journalism, communication, etc. Technical writing is the largest segment of the technical communication field.

Examples of fields requiring technical writing include computer hardware and software, architecture, engineering, chemistry, aeronautics, robotics, manufacturing, finance, medical, patent law, consumer electronics, biotechnology, and forestry.

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