The difference in tone is perhaps the most important between the two categories of writing. On one hand, technical writing emphasizes the instructions that it needs to send to its audience, which is why the tone of these instructions is usually brisk and short. The expository writing, because it is often a description, can often sometimes take even a literary tone in addressing the audience. It sometimes aims at linking causes and effects: like in the case with the annual report, the plan is not only to give out the facts, but also to explain the causality behind these and the things that have led to those effects and to those elements that can be improved in the future.
The tone of the writing actually gives the format as well. In the case of technical writing, the purpose of the writing (the necessity to give out a fast set of instructions for the end user) and the tone (brisk and technical) mean that the formatting needs to be adapted as well to these elements. This is why the format is also usually structured as a set of instructions. We will thus expect to have plenty of bullet points, lists and enumerations, all for a simpler and more efficient use of the...
On the other hand, expository writing takes much more the form of a narrative and does not need to strictly abide by such criteria.
The main forms of technical writing used in an organization are internal codes of conduct, instructions for the use of technical or electrical apparatus and software application manuals.
All these follow the same structure and format I have previously mentioned: well-organized and structured, with detailed instructions laid out so that one can get to the core of the operational instructions in a speedy manner. This is also one of the reasons why it usually takes a professional writer to write a technical document.
As we can see from this paper, the differences between technical and expository writing are numerous and they can be grouped into differences of purpose, audience, tone and formatting. Both forms of writing can usually be encountered in an organization. On one hand, technical writing is used to compile sets of instructions and regulations, while on the other hand, expository writing can be part of an annual report or a report for the shareholders.
