Technical Writing

Any attempt to define technical writing results in problems caused either by too broad or too narrow a focus. Indeed, whole fields of inquiry rise up as subsets of technical writing: business communication, organizational communication, technical communication, managerial communication, legal writing, medical writing, scientific writing, and participatory or civic writing. The majority of specialists define professional writing as including both technical and business writing. Although these definitions help to clarify the boundaries of research studies, academic programs, and professional societies, most believe that the term technical writing unites the writers as a common core of practitioners interested in writing that occurs within "settings of consequence".

New technologies will continue to emerge; therefore, technical writing will continue as a dynamic, changing field of study. Technologies must be integral to the consideration of both parts of the term technical writing: to process and product. There will be no end to investigating technical writing because there are no limits to the "settings of consequence" to be studied and no limits to evolving technologies. There will be no end to defining technical writing because to understand the term one must embrace so many themes.

If defining technical writing is difficult, refocusing established themes is more difficult. Who sets an agenda in technical writing research? When research in technical writing is designed, are questions formulated and methodologies determined based on a consensus regarding what constitutes technical writing? Are ascending agendas surrounded with theoretical and methodological jargon to elevate particular disciplines? Or do we work to bring outside audiences into their realm? Is the agenda isolationist or communal? Is it controlled by disciplinary constraints, corporate giants, political concerns, or taxpaying citizens? Are a multiplicity of audiences, purposes, disciplines, and contexts included in its voice? The purpose of this guide is to answer these and many other questions on the subject.