Technical Writing Tips for Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance Students

One aspect of pharmaceutical quality assurance that is very important, and that anyone working in the industry should be aware of, is technical writing. Technical writing is different from other kinds of writing, because it is focused first and foremost on clarity. Long sentences and descriptions might work well in an article or book, but not for a piece of technical writing.

Whether you find yourself working with Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs), Master Batch Records (MBRs), or other pieces of writing, clarity and accuracy will be essential. With a few helpful hints, you’ll be on track to writing these documents in a manner that everyone can understand and easily follow.

Working in quality assurance means working on different documents

Continue reading to learn more about technical writing and find out how you can build your own skills!

What to Think About Before Getting Started

Strong technical writing skill is essential for quality assurance in pharmaceutical operations that require different documents.

Before you get started with a piece of technical writing, you should be sure to make a plan.

• Before you even commit to writing your first sentence, think about what your objective is.
• Consider who you are writing for and what information you must communicate.
• In some cases, it is a good idea to make a preliminary writing document such as an outline or a graphic organizer before you start writing.

When planning your document, consider ways that you can enhance brevity. In fact, you should never use two words when one will do. Your writing should get to the point. In technical writing, there is no room for descriptive language. Write what needs to be said in a way that it can be well understood, and keep sentences short and easy to follow so that no misunderstandings occur.

Writing should be clear and easy to understand

Word Choice for Clarity in Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance Writing

Regardless of whether you’re writing SOPs, MBRs, or another document during your career in pharmaceutical quality assurance, there are a few guidelines or rules of technical writing that can be applied across all situations. Word choice and clarity are a couple of things you’ll want to keep in mind, to be sure your point gets across.

• Word Choice – This is a matter of making your writing easy to understand. When you are deciding which words to use to say something, choose the word that will cause the least amount of confusion, and which can be processed with the most ease.
• Clarity – Make sure that what is clear to you is also clear for the person that might read your work. Your choice of words will help you to do this, as well as clarification when necessary. For example, if you use an acronym, make sure that the reader knows what that acronym means in order to ensure that your writing is as clear as possible.

If you can, have someone re-read your work to make sure it’s clear

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