Technical Writing- Short Course

Sneak Peek

Learn Technical Writing

Technical writing is different to other forms of writing. Other writing may be primarily designed to tell a story or, in a broad sense, to entertain, inform, educate or communicate; technical writing is more about documenting information as a reference i.e. information that is designed to instruct, explain or direct in a clear and concise manner. The purpose of technical writing can be as diverse as preparing a document for work, a journal article or thesis that records the results of a piece of academic research or to simplify more complex information.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. SCOPE AND NATURE OF TECHNICAL WRITING
   • What Is Involved?
   • Examples of Technical Writing
   • Becoming a Technical Writer
   • What Characterizes Good Technical Writing?
   • Where and How Technical Writing is Published
   • Structure
2. PREPARING TO WRITE
   • Define the Task
   • Identify Expectations
   • Clarify Your Writing Goal
   • Establish a Time Plan
   • Technical Writing Procedures
   • The Role of Logic
   • Writing Content
   • Some Essential Writing Skills
   • Planning Your Writing
   • The Writing Process
   • A Writing Routine
   • Meeting Expectations
   • Collaborative Writing
   • A Writer’s Equipment
3. RESEARCHING YOUR TOPIC
   • Reasons to Conduct Research
   • Library and Internet
   • Evaluate and Select Information
   • Plagiarism
4. WAYS TO COMMUNICATE TECHNICAL INFORMATION
   • Tools for Communicating in Words
   • Tools for Communicating in Graphics
   • Illustrations and Captions
   • Technical Photography
   • Combining Graphics and Text
   • The Importance of Captions
   • Computer Tools and Software
5. ACADEMIC and BUSINESS CONVENTIONS
   • Presentation of Assignments
   • Essays and Reports
   • Writing Research Papers and Journal Articles
6. REFERENCING
   • Referencing Systems
   • Types of Referencing for Different Tasks
   • Procedures
   • Scientific Writing
   • Proposals
7. EDITING
   • Why Edit?
   • Develop a Sharp Understanding of Ambiguity
   • Causes of Ambiguity
   • Meeting Deadlines
   • Be Concise
   • Use Grammar and Punctuation Properly
   • Writing with Clarity
   • Common Causes of Confusion
   • Types of Language
   • The Editing Process
8. WRITING FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES
   • The Audience
   • Legal Applications
   • Writing Submissions
   • Writing Research Reports
   • Writing Manuals/ Instructions/ Guidelines

Who is this course for?

• Students or graduates needing to refresh or improve technical writing skills
• Business people needing to apply technical writing in their work
• Product developers who write user manuals
• Inventors, researchers or others writing submissions or reports
• Teachers and trainers needing to produce guides, instructional manuals etc.
• Writers wanting to broaden the scope of writing services they might offer