"Always write (and read) with the ear, not the eye. You should hear every sentence you write as if it was being read aloud or spoken."
C. S. Lewis

Technical Authorship/Writing

In its simplest form, technical authorship/technical writing can be the writing of technical manuals. To a large part this is at the core of our work. Essentially our main aim is to produce documentation for whatever you need.

However, technical authorship also includes gathering data, collating information, defining a readership, writing and editing, indexing and "key-wording", preparation of drawings and photographs, determining whether the results will be provided by desktop, screen-based or paper publishing, as well as attending to any printing and distribution.

At first it may appear to be a job which can be done by others who are part of a project team. For example, software engineers are often tasked with the job of producing documentation. This can be fine when the engineer has to define their own software development tasks. Sometimes, people who are busy doing one job can not find the time to do this or learn how to produce documentation. It is often a costly mistake when non-authors have to write documentation for people outside their own job role.

In some industries, the technical writer produces just the words. Whilst we are happy to do this, we usually find that the overall job is improved if we create suitable graphics too. This is how we see our role as Technical Authors - producing words and pictures to provide simple easy-to-follow instructions. We see our strengths as using our creative and technical skills to prepare a document which communicates information in a clear and concise manner for its intended audience.

The exact title of the manuals will vary depending on who we are writing for, and what they want to know. However, documents we produce may be entitled:

User Guide or User Manual
Installation Manual or Configuration Document
Service and Repair Manual
Operation and Maintenance Manual
Power-Up or Power-Down Procedure
System Reference Manual
Training Guide
Policy Document

The choice of the correct writing style and documentation format is vital to the success of most technical manuals. We have enough experience to know what styles are most appropriate for different types of audience.

The final documentation is often the result of a fair degree of planning - best started at an early stage in the process. Again, this is something we can advise on. Knowing how to setup and structure projects and systems in mind can provide great benefits to improve the re-usability of knowledge, which can speed up the production of technical manuals later on.