Becoming a Successful Technical Report Writer

Koraliz D. MartĂ­nez Colon 844-19-8779 INCO 4025- LB 1 April 1, 2020

In the essay Nature and Characteristics of Technical Writing, author xyries’ main point is that technical writing is a vital skill in the business world, and must be done concisely so that anyone can understand it and achieve success. Xyries also writes that technical writing is executed mostly in jobs with specialized vocabularies, but must be very clear, for its main goal is that anyone can understand and apply the text. Furthermore, the essay highlights the fact that technical reports must be absolutely correct, free from grammatical, punctuation and format errors.

In order to become successful, technical writers should abide to 5 specific characteristics: organized, simple, humble, and tenacious.     

Organization refers to correctly ordering the steps to a process, and eliminating facts that aren’t necessary.

Simplicity means that the writing must be clear enough for anyone to understand, regardless of their expertise.

Being humble is to admit when you’re wrong and to be capable of asking questions in regards to your doubts.

One must persist until the questions are answered and the goal is completed, therefore, one must be tenacious.

Being meticulous is to pay attention to detail. Technical writers must proofread their work many times for it to be as accurate as possible.

Not only must the writers possess a certain set of characteristics, but they must include the main characteristics of technical writing in their work. Your work must have an audience, a topic, a purpose, criteria to be evaluated, a subjective tone and supporting illustrations. It is of utmost importance to identify your audience, for that will help you write in accordance to their level of knowledge. The topic refers to the essence of what the writer plans to write about, and the purpose, to what the audience will implement after reading the document. Because technical reports are “grounded in fact”, the tone is objective; it doesn’t consider opinions nor beliefs. To complement your writing and support your facts, illustrations could be included in your report.

Technical writing is a very important form of communication in professional fields, because “it provides all the documentation for the functionality and application of products within each industry”. I very much agree with the information provided in this essay. Technical writing is a big part of the business world, since one can use it for multiple purposes. Whether it is to suggest a course of action, to direct, to inform, or to persuade your audience, technical reports will lead you to success.