Technical text: what it is, main features, writing methods and more

What is a technical text?

This type of text is distinguished from others because it is constructed under a coherent, clear and precise discourse in which it presents a series of methodologies or processes to develop an activity. However, technical texts often also incorporate topics related to scientific, technological and industrial knowledge.

In other words, technical texts are all those in which scientific knowledge is applied in order to be able to execute it in reality. Thus, the purpose of the text is to teach the person who receives the information, instructions or ways to know how to do a particular activity or process. That is why we often speak of manuals and instructions as technical texts.

Main characteristics of the technical text

The following is a series of general characteristics that allow us to distinguish this type of text from others:

Clear content

According to the intention of offering objective and true information, it is very important that the text is developed in a clear and precise way, in which there is no room for any kind of doubts and each of the concepts are expressed with precision. In this sense, technical texts must include a denotative vocabulary throughout their length.

Variety of topics

Another important feature of technical texts has to do with the fact that they can be developed in a variety of genres or classes, since they are applied to a great variety of areas.

Relationship with the argumentative text

In the development of technical texts, many of them can resort to characteristics of other types of texts in order to achieve their objective. In this sense, we have that the technical text acquires properties of the argumentative text in order to explain in the best possible way its content and thus, increase the clarity of what is being exposed.

Language of the text

The language used in this type of text is characterized by being concrete and precise. This allows each of the words and ideas mentioned to maintain their objective character and, at the same time, to avoid presenting information that generates ambiguity or confusion about what is being explained. Often new terms related to the processes being explained may appear.

Universal information

Another fundamental aspect of this type of text has to do with the fact that the information presented is intended to convey a type of information that has a universal character, which is why it implies a simple translation, while the content is easily understood by any reader.

Methods of writing a technical text

Although it is not possible to generalize a single structure for the organization of information in this type of text, it is possible to have an approach according to the writing methods used. A general and variable scheme would be the following: the beginning or introduction, the body or development and then the ending. According to them, the information will have a much more defined structure nurtured by the methods. Thus, we have the following:

Deductive method

In this type of text writing structures, the information begins with a tour of the general aspects and then stops at the specific or particular aspects. To this end, it starts from the thesis or hypothesis and in the course of the text, elements are incorporated to verify it.

Inductive method

Also known as synthesizing method, we start from the particular to formulate a general idea. Thus, the facts are taken as a starting point and then the text is oriented to the conclusions that begin to make sense of all the facts that have been initially described.

Frame

In this type of text, the author offers both deductive and inductive structures simultaneously. However, it starts with an idea that can be mentioned again as the conclusion, although it may include variations in the course of the explanation and the development of these.

Keys to prepare a technical text

We end our section with a series of essential elements that must be considered when writing a text such as these and that are vital for the fulfillment of its objective of providing information on a specific aspect. The key elements to be taken into account are as follows:

Initial planning

Before starting to write, it is necessary to gather the necessary information or resources that will allow us to develop the text, since it is clear that we cannot start writing a technical text if we do not know the subject on which it will focus. This implies, at the same time, researching on this topic, but also considering the creation of a writing plan in which we can structure the information for the reader.

Maintaining objectivity

One of the most important bases of this type of text is objectivity, since the author should not put in the text assessments or judgments regarding the information provided about a certain object, but should present clearly and objectively all the content. This is the starting principle of the technical text.

Section identification

An element that contributes to the distribution of information while facilitating the understanding of the process or of the sections offered is the identification of the sections used by the author. This is due to the fact that the appearance of the name of the sections and the fact that it is also easy to identify, generates a distinction between the ideas that are being divided and allows to go deeper into each one of them.

Complete explanation

The technical text implies an informative and, at the same time, educational nature with respect to the performance of a particular procedure or situation. Therefore, it is necessary that the author does not omit concepts that will be decisive in the process of explaining the information, since this could easily compromise the clarity with respect to the explanation of the topic and the main ideas.

Final revision

When the writing of the technical text is finished, it is necessary to review it very well. This implies a reading that not only allows us to identify possible mistakes in spelling and writing, but also to find errors regarding the connection of ideas, lack of explanations that require it, among other basic aspects that only with an objective and detailed review we will be able to find.

If you want to learn more about other types of non-literary texts or other branches of the field of literature, we invite you to continue browsing our section, where you will undoubtedly be able to access a lot of useful information.