Buy and read the textbook, Writing for the Technical Professions by Kristin R. Woolever. It provides you with explanations and lessons, models and exercises which will enhance your skills and assist you in the successful completion of your course. Chapters are referenced throughout these course links. You should become familiar with the entire text. At least skim it to get a deeper sense of the field of technical writing.
INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING
If technical writing is anything, it is useful. Art is something that we create for ourselves. Technical writing is for a specific audience. They say we do what we do for love or money! A poet, for instance, may write from the heart. A technical writer contracts to write for pay. It's not that technical writers can't be creative. Certainly the best writing is clever and as often very original. But technical writing is task-oriented, goal-directed.
For that reason, if technical writing is anything, it is accurate. In my creative writing courses--indeed, in most of the English courses I teach--I am startled by the number of errors in the writing I receive. As often students send completely un-proofed drafts. I have to remind them that "I'm an English teacher! For goodness sake, proofread!"
In this course the one thing you must do is send grammatical, error-free writing. If nothing else, you should get that right. Make this the semester that you produce the perfect product. Take pride in your craft. If you aren't creative, if you aren't particularly innovative, at least be accurate!
I don't want to eat the cake you instruct me to bake
if the ingreediants [sic]
aren't
correct!
You will be learning in at least three ways in this course.
1. You will buy a text book to read "how to" do technical writing which as often means studying examples of forms.
2. You will, of course, write your own technical writing.
3. You help edit and revise other people's writing.
There is that horrible old saying that "those who can do, do and those who can't do, teach." I, myself, am a writer who teaches. I've written more forms of writing than I can tally. I write every day and as often I am paid for it. If you want to learn, I'd be glad to help teach you.
But most of all, you are the one who looks in the mirror. What do you see? Are you interested in the subject or just collecting a few more credits toward whatever? If you have some special talent or expertise, let me learn more from and about you. Tell me what you do for a living, what you have written. Send samples. I am looking for work to post as examples for students to help improve the course!
I hope this is an instructive and productive semester for you!
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