Setting some rules is essential when it comes to writing technical content given the writers have to publish their work before the deadline. The value of a content won’t hold much significance if it misses its deadline.
Publishing content after a week when a product feature went live is similar to wishing someone a birthday after a week. Thus, it’s crucial to set some rules when writing content.
This blog post discusses the following 5 C's of technical writing that would help you write the content effectively and would help you throughout your career in technical writing.
- Clarity
- Concise
- Complete
- Correct
- Consistent
Clarity
The clearer the sentence, the more quickly it is to understand. When writing technical content, always address the what and who when explaining a concept. It eases the reader to consume your content and understand it properly. If words fall short in explaining a concept, try using visuals such as images, flowcharts, graphs, etc.
For example, consider this sentence:
“On my birthday, she gifted me a thick piece of clothing that wraps my arms, trunk, and my head as well.”
- Were you able to recognize that piece of clothing in a second?
- Were you able to recognize the person who gifted it?
Let us rewrite it as:
“My mother gifted me a hoodie on my birthday”
Well, the rewritten sentence is easy to understand as compared to the original one, right?
Always remember: Clear content is easy to read and understand.
Concise
When writing technical content, avoid overloading your content with unnecessary words. Aim to write what the audience should read. However, when removing unnecessary content, ensure that you do not remove any critical information.
For example, consider this sentence:
“The recently released Galaxy smartphone, made by Samsung, has leveled up their game by introducing AI in their camera, which makes the photos look more natural and clear. ”
Uff…It’s a long statement to read, isn’t it?
Let us rewrite it as:
“The new Samsung Galaxy smartphone uses AI to make photos look more natural and clear.”
Always remember: A concise content is always appreciated.
Complete
Your content is of no use unless it is complete. No matter how fancy you write or how beautifully you design the content structure, the content is never appreciated unless it includes every detail.
For example, consider this sentence:
“Apple has introduced a new range of colors on its products, which will soon be available in markets.”
Several questions may arise from this statement:
- What are the colors?
- On which products?
- When would it be available in the market?
Let us rewrite it as:
“Apple has introduced a new range of colors - red, forest green, ice blue, and purple, on its iPhone 15 Pro models. It will be available in markets the coming weekend, July 13, 2024.“
To ensure the content is complete, connect with SMEs associated with your task and get as much information as possible.
Always remember: It is okay to add extra information unless it is confidential, rather than having less information.
Correct
For a writer, it is critical to maintain correct information. Your content should not contain any typos, grammatical mistakes, and false information.
Before publishing the content, it is a best practice to request your peers to review the content. There is a high possibility of your peers noticing any incorrectness in your content.
Always remember: A correct documentation is a reflection of the product.
Consistent
Aim to use the same word or name throughout the document. Even though two words mean the same, it is important to use a single word.
For example, consider this sentence:
“The CLI enables a user to run a command. The person using CLI can customize the interface as per requirements.”
Here, the “user” and “person using CLI” are the same entity. However, using different words for the same entity confuses the audience.
Let us rewrite it as:
“The CLI enables a user to run a command. The user can customize the interface as per requirements.”
Always remember: Usage of the same text, feature, name, or action throughout the document enables the audience to interpret the information correctly.
Conclusion
(No, this is not another C of technical writing 😁. We are concluding our blog post here.)
The 5 C's of technical writing are clarity, concise, complete, correct, and consistent. It is a best practice to consider these points when working on a documentation task. This practice enables you to complete the documentation task within the deadline and improve the quality of the document.
