Technical writing, a form of technical communication, is a style of formal writing and is used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. Technical writers explain technology and related ideas, to technical and nontechnical audiences. As examples, this could mean telling a programmer how to use a software library, or telling a consumer how to operate a television remote control.

Technical writers gather information from existing documentation and from subject matter experts. A subject matter expert (SME) is any expert on the topic that the writer is working on. Technical writers are usually not SMEs themselves—unless they're writing about creating good technical documentation. Workers at many levels, and in many different fields, have a role in producing technical communications. A good technical writer needs strong language and teaching skills, and must understand the many conventions of modern technical communications.