What is technical writing?Technical

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 “ Treating of astrolabe “, the first technical writing in english language. The treatise in 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).