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Along with the debate about what to call practioners of technical communication in all its diversity, professionals frequently discuss the classification of technical communication for government labour offices. In the UK, technical communicators are included in the same labour group as journalists; in Spain, the profession is not officially recognised. Writing is generally considered to be an art but is technical writing an art or a science?

Delving into the excellent ISTC resource Oxford Reference Online, I checked the various definitions:

science
1. the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
2. a systematically organized body of knowledge on any subject.
3. (archaic) knowledge.

art¹
1. the expression or application of creative skill and imagination, especially through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture. • works produced in this way.
2. (the arts) the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance.
3. (arts) subjects of study primarily concerned with human culture (as contrasted with scientific or technical subjects).
4. a skill in a specified thing: the art of conversation.

technical
1. relating to a particular subject, art, or craft, or its techniques. • requiring special knowledge to be understood.
2. involving or concerned with applied and industrial sciences. • relating to the operation of machines: a technical fault.
3. according to a strict application or interpretation of the law or rules.

The definition of writing is too long to post here.

Source: The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Twelfth edition . Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.   Syndicated edition for Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators. 11 May 2010.

Looking at these definitions, perhaps a technical guide could be considered ‘a systematically organized body of knowledge’ and it is frequently involved or concerned ‘with applied and industrial sciences’. Certainly a ‘special knowledge’ is required to write most technical documentation. Curiously though, Oxford Reference Online distinguishes between the scientific ‘study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world’ and the ‘human culture’ that is an art.

Professional technical communicators observe, experiment, and organize technical information, which lean towards scientific activity but we should not ignore the diverse cultures of our audiences. The cultural aspect gains in importance when we determine the information media, and the habits and languages of our users, especially as so many countries are multicultural.

Beyond these definitions though, there is one other critical aspect. Along with the notion that ‘anyone can write’, popular consensus is also that anyone can sing or dance. It is the mastery of a technique that allows professional singers and dancers to impart the impression of ease that lets audiences think that they can do the same. If our users – or critics – believe that they can write technical documentation then perhaps technical writers have surpassed the technique and the science and become true artists.

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