Editing Technical writer (section)

==Methodology (document development life cycle)==
To create a technical document, a technical writer must understand the subject, purpose, and audience. They gather information by studying existing material, interviewing SMEs, and often actually using the product. They study the audience to learn their needs and technical understanding level.

A technical publication's development life cycle typically consists of five phases, coordinated with the overall product development plan:<ref>{{cite book |last = Hackos |first = JoAnn T. |title = Managing Your Documentation Projects |year = 1994 |publisher = Wiley |isbn = 0-471-59099-1 |pages = 630 }}</ref>

* Phase 1: Information gathering and planning
* Phase 2: Content specification
* Phase 3: Content development and implementation
* Phase 4: Production
* Phase 5: Evaluation

The document development life cycle typically consists of six phases (This changes organization to organization, how they are following).
# Audience profiling (identify target audience)
# User task analysis (analyze tasks and information based on the target audience)
# Information architecture (design based on analysis, how to prepare document)
# Content development (develop/prepare the document)
# Technical and editorial reviews (review with higher level personnel—managers, etc.)
# Formatting and publishing (publish the document).
This is similar to the software development life cycle.

Well-written technical documents usually follow formal standards or guidelines. Technical documentation comes in many styles and formats, depending on the medium and subject area. Printed and online documentation may differ in various ways, but still adhere to largely identical guidelines for prose, information structure, and layout. Usually, technical writers follow formatting conventions described in a standard [[style guide]]. In the US, technical writers typically use [[AP Stylebook|The Associated Press Stylebook]] or [[the Chicago Manual of Style]] (CMOS). Many companies have internal corporate style guides that cover specific corporate issues such as logo use, branding, and other aspects of corporate style. The [[Microsoft Manual of Style|Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications]] is typical of these.

Engineering projects, particularly defense or aerospace-related projects, often follow national and international documentation standards&mdash;such as ATA100 for civil aircraft or S1000D for civil and defense platforms.