Five skills technical writers need

Abstract

This paper differs from many how-to-do-it guidelines for authors because it proposes that technical writers need to acquire various skills. One valuable skill is that of analyzing how a document will be used. Creating easy-to-read texts also requires the twin skills of language control and judicious selection among graphic and typo graphic options. Evaluating the cost-benefits of alternative presen tations requires a fourth skill, sophisticated interpretation of the available research findings (laboratory findings are not suitable for rote application). A fifth set of skills that are useful to the technical writer concerns the management of the production process, where administrative and interpersonal factors must be deftly handled. Whether these diverse skills can be found within one person seems an open question which has important implications for the training of technical authors and the operation of technical writing departments.

L'étude des discours procéduraux aujourd'hui : travaux linguistiques et psycholinguistiques

“…Au sens large, l'auteur peut correspondre à une personne unique ou à une équipe composée de plusieurs personnes provenant de différents services et détenant chacune des expertises spécifiques : expertises dans le domaine à communiquer, en rédaction technique, en marketing, en traduction, etc. (Geoffroy cité par Baverel, 1995 ;Henry & Monkam-Daverat, 1998 ;Wright, 1981). L'utilisateur peut, quant à lui, correspondre à une personne, ou à un groupe qui peut être homogène (ex : un groupe de spécialistes en aéronautique, etc.)…”

Expanding concepts of the writer's purpose, audience, and task: The IEEE transactions on professional communication, 1981–86

“…Patricia Wright advised writers to organize their work in keeping with the applied technical purpose of the procedures they describe: "how readers will use the document" [81]. Ruth Power suggested that the writer develop the text around the needs of a technical readership from the outset of a project: "work as part of the front-end engineering" [82].…”

Techniques for Creating Computer-Based Instructional Text: Programming Languages, Authoring Languages, and Authoring Systems

“…Hartley (1981) listed 80 specific recommendations for the development of instructional text. Wright (1981) suggested guidelines to help in the evaluation of instructional text. The Writer's Workbench developed at Bell Labs formalizes a set of rules for effective written communication (Frase, MacDonald, & Keenan, 1985).…”