UMGC WRTG 393: Advanced Technical Writing
WRTG 393 is UMGC's workplace-writing course and a common upper-level writing requirement: instructions, technical descriptions, reports, and proposals, all written for defined audiences and purposes. Most assignments mirror documents you'd actually produce on the job, and many students build them around their own workplace.
Fennie is independent and not affiliated with University of Maryland Global Campus. This is an unofficial study guide.
What makes it hard
Students who write well academically get caught off guard: technical writing grades concision, document design, and audience fit, and essayistic habits like long paragraphs and throat-clearing introductions actively cost points. The assignment cadence is steady, and rubrics check formatting conventions precisely.
What you'll cover
- • Audience and purpose analysis
- • Instructions and process documentation
- • Technical reports
- • Proposals
- • Document design and formatting
- • Editing for concision and clarity
The WRTG 393 study guide
How to study for UMGC WRTG 393, step by step.
- 1
Unlearn the academic essay voice in week 1
Technical writing wants front-loaded conclusions, short paragraphs, headings, and lists. Study the sample documents and copy their structure; the essayistic habits that earned As elsewhere cost points here.
- 2
Define the audience before drafting anything
Every WRTG 393 rubric traces back to audience fit: what the reader knows, needs, and will do with the document. Write a two-line audience statement first and let it dictate every choice.
- 3
Anchor assignments in a real workplace
Documents built around your actual job or a realistic scenario are easier to write and grade better, because the details are concrete. Generic topics produce generic documents.
- 4
Edit in a separate pass, ruthlessly
Draft complete, then cut: shorter sentences, plainer words, fewer of both. Concision is graded directly, and it only happens in revision, never in drafting.
Today
Today's WRTG 393 plan
What a Fennie Daily Plan looks like for WRTG 393. Yours is built from your own syllabus and adapts every day to your deadlines and progress.
First plan free, no card required. Fennie is independent and unaffiliated with your school.
FAQ
Is UMGC WRTG 393 hard?
It's not conceptually hard, but it grades a different skill than academic writing: concision, document design, and audience fit. Strong essay writers who don't adjust their style are the ones surprised by early grades.
What do you write in WRTG 393?
Workplace documents: instructions, technical descriptions, reports, and proposals, each targeted at a defined audience. Many students base them on their actual jobs, which makes the work doubly useful.
Who needs WRTG 393?
It satisfies the upper-level advanced writing requirement in many UMGC degree plans, especially technology and business programs. Check your degree audit; it's one of the most-taken upper-level courses at the university.
More UMGC courses
WRTG 111: Academic Writing I
WRTG 111 is the first course in UMGC's writing sequence, rebuilding academic writing fundamentals (paragraph and essay structure, thesis development, and revision) for students who may be returning to school after years away. Work is scaffolded: short pieces grow into essays through drafts and instructor feedback.
WRTG 112: Academic Writing II
WRTG 112 is UMGC's research-writing course: you develop a research question, evaluate sources, and produce an academic research essay through staged milestones across the session. It satisfies the core writing requirement for most UMGC degrees and is one of the most-taken courses at the university.