Technical Writing is one of the most complex yet valuable domains of creative writing. For the past few years, the demand for technical writers has grown exponentially in almost every business.
But before we go any further, we have to be clear about the concept of Technical writing and what it really is.
Technical writing, as normally associated is not just about fabricating a certain set of standards or procedures but it’s more about breaking down a domain-specific knowledge into a reader-friendly document. Technical writing is more of communication that can be in form of a user booklet, a web page, a regulatory document, or an instruction manual.
As a technical writer, you can work in almost any industry you want to or if you are more of work from home kind of person, then freelance is the other way to go about it. The potential is endless, all you need to do is know the real skills and techniques that are required to become a technical writer. If you are really up for it and think that you have the required skills and creativity then this article might prove to be the key to your future career as a technical writer.
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What Do I need to become a Technical Writer?
This is the first question that gets in your mind when you think about jumping into the world of technical writing. Before we go further, let me make one thing clear, you don’t require any specific degree to be a skillful technical writer, not in the current generation at least. A decade or so ago the case was a bit different, the field wasn’t much explored, so mostly business-related people were hired to do technical documentation but with rapid growth in almost every industry, Technical writing has become a field of itself.
Technical writing skills
Technical writing is all about your soft skills and technical skills. All of these skills hold their own specific importance when it comes to technical writing and before we move further, it is necessary to understand these skills and what role they play in developing and nourishing your technical writing skills.
Soft skills
Soft skills, as commonly termed can either be a personality trait or a combination of your social and interpersonal relations and abilities. It is a common misconception that soft skills have nothing to do with technical writing but the truth is that they are the ones that distinguish a skillful technical writer from a mediocre one.
As I mentioned earlier that technical writing is all about communication, one of the most prominent soft skills. As a technical writer, you have to communicate with other technical writers, product owners, developers, or sometimes even with the subject matter experts. So, you have to make sure that you are open to communication. If you think you have this skill then this just got easier for you. And, if you think otherwise, I recommend it’s about time you work on this and soon you will be on your way to becoming a good technical writer.
Technical skills
Technical skills as the name implies are the core of technical writing. As a technical writer, these are the skills that distinguish a technical writer from a creative writer.
As a technical writer, you might have to develop subject-specific documentation and for that, you need to have appropriate technical knowledge. For each of those subjects that you are required to work on, you need to make yourself up to date with all the ins and outs of the product or service that you are working at.
So, the first and the most important technical skill is “Research”. Most of the time you will be working on new products or services that you have little knowledge of. So, to develop a technical document you will need to perform extensive research on the topic, so when you sit down to write, you have a huge chunk of authentic and verified data to write from.
When you are done researching your topic, it’s about time you start using the collected data to shape up your technical document. This is where your writing skills are tested and utilized. What differentiates technical writing from creative is that, in technical writing, your information has to be accurate, neat, and to the point. Your writing has to be strict to the point and in line with the product/service’s domain and should be straightforward. Try to keep your fictional creativity at the back of your head when writing a technical piece.
Make sure that you choose adequate and industry-friendly words. Avoid using unnecessary jargon. Make your document as simple as it can be so that it can be understood by even non-technical readers easily. For this, you have to know your customer and reader precisely.
Audience analysis is another important skill that you need to keep in mind. Make sure that whatever you write is what you would like to read as a reader. The most common mistake that technical writers make is that they write their articles as per their level of understanding. You should always keep in mind your target reader. For example, if you are writing SOPs for a lab, you can use the scientific terminologies without any problem but if you are writing a manual for a household product, you have to make sure that it’s easily readable and understandable.
Technical writing courses
If you think that you have these skills but still lack the temperament or the technique of technical writing, then a technical writing course might be the option for you. There are a lot of courses available online that you can enroll in to grab the required skills.
Career Pathways
If you think that you have enough skills, start looking out for companies looking for technical book writers to hire for their work. Apply for that work, maybe at first you might find problems in meeting the requirements or might find some rejection but don’t let that push you down as it will help you flourish your skills and get the required experience.
Moreover, if you are willing to do freelance or part-time work, there are plenty of freelance jobs looking for technical book ghostwriters for hire who can help them develop the required documents.
