Difference between Technical Writing and General Writing
Like not everyone is an excellent speaker, not everyone has a knack for writing. There are strategies to make one's writing more captivating, error-free, and clear. In the sense that they uplift, inform, and entertain people, words are more powerful than a sword. However, not all writing is similar.
Technical writing is very different from general writing, which includes expressing your views and opinions about a technical issues. Technical writing and general writing serve quite different goals and are intended for very different audiences.
What is General Writing?
When writing about general topics, the author must put himself in the reader's position to understand how his writing would be received. When opposed to writing prose that contains faults, writing a weak piece of writing is not as serious. The readers get perplexed and disinterested at this point. When an article is free of errors and conveys its message clearly, readers admire good writing and are more likely to take the author seriously.
For a reader, spelling and grammar are important. Since he expects nothing less than perfection from a printed piece of paper, he becomes annoyed when he notices such errors. Spelling checking and editing after you've finished writing are helpful in this situation. The information comes next, of course, and should be logical and consecutive to avoid leaving the readers with any room for doubt or obfuscation.
What is Technical Writing?
Technical writing is a style of writing that is used more frequently than any other. “How” is the core of all technical writing. An instruction manual for using a mobile device or a cookbook filled with recipes are two straightforward examples of technical writing. Technical writing often has parts that are not intended for the public. This comprises business writing that is full of terminologies used in the business world to interact with management, staff, and other businesses.
Science textbooks are also instances of technical writing in a broader sense. Any book that provides material that is useful to you as a photography student—and contains words that the public would not understand or appreciate - is a sort of technical writing.
Technical writing needs to be succinct and clear whether it is written for a general audience or for readers. The readers who are supposed to read it ought to find it useful. Although writing a tale or a poetry is undoubtedly different from writing technical writing, both types of writing must include content that can hold the reader's attention. Its content ought to be organised such that the reader may simply understand the subject matter and find the information he is looking for.
Technical writing differs from general writing in the following ways:
| S.NO | Technical Writing | General Writing |
| 1. | Technical writing emphasises truthful and simple content. | Writing about general topics is the focus of general writing. |
| 2. | The purpose of technical writing is to communicate knowledge, guidelines, and explanations. | The purpose of most writing is to amuse. |
| 3. | Objective tone is the foundation of technical writing. | The subjective tone or personal style of general writing is the foundation. |
| 4. | It uses a conventional organised format. | It adheres to a creatively unstructured format. |
| 5. | It is frequently founded on a formal writing style. | It could be written in a formal or informal style. |
| 6. | Third person is the preferred voice for technical writing. | First person is the usual writing voice. |
| 7. | Technical writing calls for specific vocabulary. | Evocative vocabulary is necessary in writing generally. |
| 8. | The audience or readers for technical writing are very particular. | There is no target or readership for general writing. |
| 9. | Writing for the archive is technical. | Writing in general is not archived. |
| 10. | It is more precise in its approach and accurate. | It has a bombastic and ornamental style. |
| 11. | Technical writing is relevant to any field or industry. | Any life in general is related to the general domain. |
| 12. | Technical writing, for instance, refers to writing any tutorials point articles that are linked to the computer science subject. | For instance, broad writing includes any prose or narrative that will be published in a regional magazine. |