Story of Technical Writing

History of Writing

Language was born at the same time as man was created. Language existed long before writing came into existence. The advent of writing can be said to have emerged when man started to settle down. The initial writing found was in form of pictures.  Egyptians developed the most famous and well-known form of picture writing known as hieroglyphics (Larkin, 1999).

Early Writing

Initially man used to express and record through signs and pictures on walls of caves and later on clay tablets. The Mesopotamians developed one of the earliest writing systems, they had specialist known as scribes. These scribes were the only ones who could write. Their writing system was exsentially used to measure barley, which was considered the most important commodity at that time. (Larkin, 1999)

Writing Systems

As time passed and man progressed these signs became more sophisticated and instruments for writing were developed. Cunelform script came into existence and it was used in different cities to record a variety of information such as temple activities, business and trade. Eventually it was also used to write stories, myths and personal letters. It is debated that writing systems were developed in four major civilizations: Indus valley in Ancient India, Chinese, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian independently but around the same time. (Daniels & Bright, 1996)

As man evolved, so did writing. Greeks developed the earliest ways of writing which is quite similar to the modern writing system. They used to write with metal stylus on wax-coated tablets. The invention and use of ink by Chinese took writing to new heights. Advancement in technologies altered what was written and how it was produced. During the Golden age of Islam, Arabic script was prominently used everywhere and it became one of the world's standard scripts. By the end of 16th century old Roman and Greek letters were transformed into twenty-six alphabets letters, as we know today.

Writing in Education

Formal education played a significant role in bringing the writing to masses. This changed the nature of writing and envolved into the form we know now.

Writing is considered a very powerful learning tool and plays a very crucial role in our education .It helps us discover new information, ideas, evaluate our thoughts and opinions. Writing is broadly divided into fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is a kind of writing that deals with ideas or events that are imaginary or theoretical whereas non-fiction is a kind of writing that is based on facts and information. Major types of non-fiction literature are essays, journals, memoirs, technical documentation/writing, scientific papers, travel books, blue prints and user manuals.

What is Technical Writing?

Technical writing is a kind of non-fiction writing. It is used for technical communication and is often associated with help files, procedure and user manuals. One of the important uses of technical writing is step-by-step explanation of how to do things, for example assemble a machine, repair something, routine maintenance, recipe to make something. It focuses on simplifying something which is complex. It can be said that technical writing involves creating useful documents that can be clearly understood by the readers. Good technical writing presents useful information in a way that is easily understood by the users.

The origin of technical writing can be traced back to Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote "Treatise of Astrolabe", the first technical writing English Language. This treatise is considered the oldest work in English describing a complex scientific instrument. This document is admired for its clarity in explaining difficult concepts (North, 1988).

Technical writing as a discipline came into existence around the World War 1 due to the growing need in technology-based documentation. In 1953, the society of technical writers and the association of technical writers and editors were set up to improve the practice of technical writing. Later these two organizations merged and formed Society of Technical Communication. The golden age of technical writing started with invention of computers and the need for help files for the laymen (Alred, et al, 2006).

Characteristics of Good Technical Writing

A well-written piece of technical writing presents information in a relevant, useful and accurate way, which is targeted towards a special audience. A good technical document requires the following techniques:
  • Clear, simple writing
  • A thorough understanding of the procedure in all its technical details
  • Ability to put yourself in the place of the reader, the person trying to use your instructions
  • Ability to visualize the procedure in great detail and to capture that awareness on paper
  • Finally, willingness to go that extra distance and test your instructions (Alred, et al, 2--6).


Conclusion

Lots of changes have taken place in the field of technical writing. Now there are specified writers called technical writers. Technical writing has its own categories. Technical writers work together with editors, graphic designers and illustrators, document specialists, content managers, instructional designers, trainers, and analysts to produce an amazing variety of deliverables, including: contracts, customer service scripts, design documents, FAQs, how-to-do videos, instructions, knowledge-based articles, policy documents, user manuals, training course materials, warning labels, help files, white papers, etc.

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