BASIC TECHNIQUES OF TECHNICAL WRITING

2.1 Definition
Successful writers employ a variety of techniques in their writing. However, the kind of writing
dictates the techniques to be employed by the writer. For instance, if one does a brochure, he use
description more than any other technique; if he writes a fire incident report, he uses narration
more than any other. In technical writing, the techniques basically employed are definition,
definition, description, classification, partitioning or analysis,causation (causal analysis),
comparison, contrast, and interpretation.

2.2 Formal Definition

It focuses special attention on a term. If the writer finds the formal sentence definition, more
effective than the informal definition, the technique of formal definition must be employed.
Formal Sentences Definition. It has three parts: term, genus, and differentia
a.

Term the concept defined

b.

Genus the family to which the term belong

c.

Differentia the specific characteristics of the species which sets it apart from all
others of it class
Extended Formal Definition

A one-sentence definition sometimes is not in defining a complex or highly specialized

term. A reader might be dissatisfied with this explanation, especially if it occurred in a report
particularly concerned with the subject . He might very well ask what the term is not, where it is
located, what its function is, what its effects are.
There are different ways by which we can expand a formal definition. Some of these ways are as
follows:
1. giving the uses or the functions of a term
Example:
One of the organs we cannot live without is the liver, which is the largest organ in our body. It
enables the body to function efficiently by filtering toxic substances from the blood. It is

responsible for producing proteins, bile, and immune agents, without which, our body will not be
able to combat infection and disease.
2. giving the origin of the term
Example:
The word placebo comes from a Latin word which means pleasing or acceptable. It refers to
the desire of a person who seeks the help of the doctor to be healed.
3. giving its causes and or effects, advantages or disadvantages
Example:
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, can cause headaches and intestinal and rinary
problems when taken in excess doses. It can also increase iron absorption, a condition which can
have adverse effects on people with certain blood disorders.
4. illustrating or describing its appearance
Example:
An organ is a large complex musical wind instrument with pipes, stops, and a keyboard.
5. explaining what is not
Example:
A good breakfast cannot be equated with just a cup of coffee and a cookie. Neither that it just
consist of one serving of fruit and a glass of water. Nor should it be a bowl of rice and coffee.
6. analyzing its parts
Example:
The process of writing consists of four stages: getting ideas, getting started, writing drafts,
and revising.
( Raimes, 1983) The first require the writer to brainstorm with peers and other persons to
generate topics to write on. The second requires him or her to start locating sources and taking
down notes. The third is the writing stage itself. The last requires the writer to polish the initially
produced manuscript.
7. classifying it
Example:
Theobromen belongs to a class of alka loid molecules known as methylxanthine found in
cocoa beans.

8. stating where it is from

Example:
Stress is a term which was introduced in 1956 in the American vernacular.
9. giving its collocations
Example:
Stress has always been associated with changes, worries, pressures, and problems.
10. giving examples
Example:
Examples of lyric poems are sonnet, song, ode, simple lyric, and the elegy.
2.3 Classification
Classification is the orderly, systematic arrangement of related things in accordance with a
governing principle or basis. The classifier notes the structural and functional relationships
among things that constitute a class. In recording this relationships, the classifier employs
certain conventional terms. Acquaintance with these convenient terms will make the rest
easy to follow.
This term has a loose popular meaning and a more precise technical one. Popularly,
classification is almost any act of noting relationships. Technically, classification is the act of
locating a specimen of all the different kinds of objects that posses a given characteristic or
characteristics. Initially, classification must begin with the recognition that different things
posses similar characteristics.

2.4 Partition
Partitioning is the act of dividing a unit into its components. The parts do not have
necessarily had anything in common beyond the fact that they belong to the same unit. A
hammer may be partitioned into head and handle. Hammers may be logically divided
according to physical characteristics of their heads as claw, ball peen, and so forth.
Classification, or logical division, always deals with several (at least two) units. Partition
deals with the parts of only one unit. A hammer is a single unit. A hammer head without a
handle is not a hammer. The head and the handle are parts of a single unit. You have
probably become familiar with a variety of partitioning in a chemistry course when you
determine the components of a chemical compound.

2.5 Description of Mechanism

A mechanism is generally defined as any object or system that has a working part or parts. Most
often the term suggests tools, instruments, and machines. But other examples of mechanisms
could be the human body and systems like the universe or a city, which is composed of parts that
work together like parts of a machine. A technical man constantly works with mechanisms and
always needs to understand them; what they do, what they look like, what parts they have, and
how
these
parts
work
together.
There are three fundamental divisions of the description and these are the introduction, the partby-part
description,
and
the
conclusion.
Because the description of a mechanism seldom constitutes an article or report by itself, the
introduction required is usually rather simple

2.6 Description of a Process

Process description is a part of the technical writing genre, during which the author writes about
a subject that requires instruction or explanation. According to WritingforCollege.org, the
process description does not offer instruction itself, but rather outlines how something works.
Therefore, writers do not include commands or writing in the second person. Instead, they write
in the present tense with a general subject.
Process descriptions get used in proposals, planning documents, progress reports, promotional
literature and technical support documents. Such descriptions may also be about natural events,
such as how lightning is produced. The process description should include an introduction that
gives a broad overview of the topic, including any necessary definitions. The main text should
also include enough detail to make the process clear to a non-expert in that field. Process
descriptions typically include a summary of the process.