Technical Writing – How to Become a Technical Writer?

The fast-paced technological advancements have necessitated the role of a technical writer who can communicate the technology to diverse audiences. No wonder, technical writing is one of the in-demand skill sets. The scope of technical writing spans several disciplines. Therefore, the opportunities for technical writers are vast and diverse. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected employment of technical writers to grow at an annual 6% from 2021 to 2031. Do you also aspire to be one?

This blog gives you complete information on how to become a technical writer while answering these questions.

• Technical Writing- Definition And Understanding
• What tasks does a technical writer perform?
• What are the skills required to be a technical writer?
• How to become a technical writer?

A technical writer breaks down complex technical information into simpler language and conveys it to the target audience in written form in an easy-to-understand and structured manner. Any technology-driven field requires the expertise of technical writers to achieve its technical communication objectives. They help businesses prosper through efficient and clear communication of technical knowledge. Before we discuss how you can become a technical writer, let us understand in detail what technical writing is. 

Technical writing – definition and understanding

Technical information is complex. It talks of scientific principles, processes, and evidence-based conclusions. A good piece of technical writing communicates these ideas and facts through clear, and accurate instructions in the easy-to-understand manner.

The process of generating a technical document involves research, investigation, and collection of relevant information through various media such as interviews, research papers, documentation, and more. A technical writer then puts this information together in an organized manner to help his readers accomplish a goal.

Some examples of technical writings are product manuals, reports, project plans, specifications, design documents, whitepapers, and any other content that aims to share technical information in a structured manner.

Responsibilities of a technical writer

The first and foremost responsibility of a technical writer is to generate the content that answers the questions of the target audience and helps them achieve their goals. To create a great piece of content, a writer needs to go through a set of tasks:

• Research the subject
  Technical writers study documents, research papers, and other sources to gather information for their understanding and writing content. Further, interactions with experts help to fill any knowledge gap.
  
  
• Collaborate with stakeholders
  Multiple stakeholders are involved in a process, starting from higher management, product managers, delivery managers, engineers, marketing team, and more. Technical writers need to understand the expectations and requirements by collaborating with them.
  
  
• Understand the goal
  Before writing the technical content, technical writers should know what purpose they intend to solve through their content. That defines the format and structure of the target content.
  
  
• Define target audience
  To write appropriate content, the technical writer must know who is going to read it. It includes the age group, gender, knowledge level, profession, language skills, etc. of the target user group.
  
  
• Outline the content
  Technical writers gather a pile of information from different sources. However, this information requires to be organized as per the audience needs. Hence, they create an outline which is also shared with stakeholders sometimes to confirm their expectations. Sharing outline helps in catching gaps at an early stage and avoids rework in later stages.
  
  
• Create content
  Once the outline has been reviewed and approved, the technical writer creates content based on the information collected through research and inputs from subject matter experts.
  
  
• Add graphics
  Studies say pictures and illustrations help better understanding and makes content more engaging. To improve content comprehension, technical writers include images, snapshots, charts, illustrations, and diagrams in technical documents.
  
  
• Compile and get feedback
  Now, written and visual content is ready. The technical writer collates the whole thing and shares it with internal and external teams for review. The reviewers then check the document for accuracy and completeness of information, structure, tone, style and more.
  
  
• Finalize and publish the content
  After receiving inputs, technical writer makes the required edits, finalizes the content by proofreading and performing final checks before hitting the Publish button.
  
  

Skills of a technical writer

As discussed above, multiple sub-tasks are involved in presenting complex technical information in simple and easily digestible way. Clearly, technical writing requires a broad spectrum of skills to deliver a good quality output. Here are a few essential skills you must possess as a technical writer:

Research skills

Technical writing is all about technical information that is very specific and includes facts, concepts, processes, functioning and so on. A technical writer collects this information by going through existing studies and documentation or interviewing SMEs. Sometimes, they even carry out processes themselves to understand them properly.

They also research the target audience and their requirements to know what to include in the content and how.

The technical writer then analyses and organizes this information as per the user needs. An important point to keep in mind here is to leave the bias and assumptions aside. There is no scope of inaccuracy, guess work or errors in technical writing.

Language and writing skills

Proficiency in the language is undoubtedly a must-have skill to write any type of content. However, in technical writing, it becomes all the more important as even a slight punctuation mistake might result into an irrecoverable damage and even life risks in some cases.

Moreover, a good piece of technical content conveys the intended information to its user in the shortest and easiest way possible. Hence, linguistic fundamentals play a vital role.  

Some language aspects that a technical writer should inculcate in his writings are:

• Grammatical accuracy
• Clarity
• Conciseness
• Readability
• Structure

Communication skills

A technical writer not only needs to transfer ideas clearly to the audience but also requires to be a good communicator to gather information. A technical writer talks to various stakeholders to understand the requirements, interviews SMEs, interacts within the team to get graphics, feedback and more, and writes it down for the users by getting into the user’s shoes. So, communication is required at every step.

With so much to and fro of information, it might be overwhelming for a few to handle. Needless to say, a technical writer requires excellent communication skills to pass-on the intended information to the target audience in the most effective way.

Review and editing skills

As a technical writer, one also requires to review and edit his own or peer’s technical content. Although the role requires one to be a good critique, it is equally important to be empathetic to carry out this task successfully. As an editor, a technical writer requires to pay attention to detail, ability to find errors and gaps in the information, ability to check accuracy of the information and then, convey the feedback compassionately.

Apart from the skills mentioned above, the following additional skills also help technical writers in performing their job most productively:

• Technical knowledge
• Precision and accuracy
• Information designing
• Visual communication
• Project management
• Collaboration
  

How do I become a technical writer?

Get the right training

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

– Benjamin Franklin

Technical writing is a budding profession that requires good writing skills and a decent knowledge of the domain for which one is writing. With technology entering every industry, the domains requiring technical writing are too diverse. And this is why, despite increasing demand for technical writers, very few recognized institutes offer this as a complete course.

Then, how do you become a technical writer without any degree or experience?

You can enroll for an online technical writer certification course offered by online training institutes or join online courses on platforms like Udemy and Coursera. Apart from this, you can opt for my online mentorship program to join a small batch of aspiring technical writers. Get in touch for more information.

Acquire domain knowledge

While technical background is not a prerequisite, basic domain knowledge gives you an edge over others. To help your target audience through your writings, it is important to understand what you are trying to convey.

For instance, if you write for the software industry, learn coding fundamentals. If you write about automobiles, know about automotive technologies. You do not need to be an expert, but know how the stuff around you works.

You can learn by reading domain-related material, watching videos and tutorials or, by joining fundamental online courses. Your research skills and discussions with subject matter experts also help you learn about the domain.

Expose yourself to technical content

Whether it is the Play Store description of your favorite mobile app or Covid 19 safety protocol, we encounter several types of technical content daily. Have a keen eye for technical content around you. Observe, analyze, rewrite, and compose new content for specialized products or processes you come across. 

An advantage of this approach is you get to understand the diversity and can develop a specialization in your area of interest. 

Practice writing

Writing is like a sport – you only get better if you practice.

– Rick Riordan, American author

A formal training course surely helps to begin with, but what matters the most is your consistency. In your journey as a technical writer, you need to master writing skills and that requires practice. The more you write, the better you get at writing.

However, it is important to write it the right way. Here are some tips to help with this:

• Keep learning grammar and the language basics
• Read good stuff — preferably about your domain.
• While reading, notice the structure and flow.
• Write more — preferably, the technical content.
• Follow the style guides.
• Know your shortcomings. Get your writings reviewed by someone experienced.

Refer style guides 

Style guides provide a set of standard rules for using grammar, terminology, tone, and structure in technical writing. 

There are several style guides, each suited for a particular type of writing. Nevertheless, referring to style guides helps you refine your writing skills. It gives you a basis to evaluate your own writing style.

The following table lists various style guides and the type of technical content they are more commonly used for.

Style guide	Appropriate for
AP stylebook	Any technical writing
Google Developer Style Guide	Google developer documentation
Chicago Manual of Style	Manuscripts and articles writing
The IET Guide to Technical Report Writing	Technical report writing
Apple Style Guide	Software developers/writers
Microsoft Writing Style Guide	Computer technology writing

Get feedback from experts

Learning needs continuous evaluation to keep the progress in check.

You may have written several pages, spending hours or days, but until you know where you stand and what are the areas of improvement, you will not get the right direction. Hence, getting feedback from expert technical writers who have been in the industry for a while and are delivering good content is important. You can ask your seniors or mentors at work to give you specific inputs about your work. In your formative years as a technical writer, it is essential to welcome feedback and develop the skill of dealing with criticism.

If you are new to this field and there is no one to review your work, you can consider volunteering to work with an expert who can help you grow.

In case you still do not find anyone to help you with this, you can also contact me and send me a piece of content (max 500 words) for quick inputs. I will be happy to help.

Build a strong portfolio

The best way to learn technical writing is to work in real time. If you have equipped yourself with basic skills and writing practice, go ahead! This is the time to get ready for a job.

You can approach potential employers on LinkedIn or job marketplaces. However, freshers may face some difficulty, and the most fierce challenge in front of them is how to become a technical writer without any experience.

Build a good profile mentioning the training, skills you have gained, and projects you have worked on. Make the profile stand out by creating an attractive portfolio showcasing a variety of sample content you have created.

Here are some tips to prepare a strong portfolio:

• Write for open blogging platforms such as Medium, Hashnode etc.
• Volunteer for open-source organizations
• Apply through Google Season of Docs*
  * It is an initiative by Google to provide a platform to connect technical writers with open-source organizations. The selected technical writers can work on writing a new document, editing or improving the existing one, and developing tutorials. The program lasts for 3 -5 months. Selected technical writers get a reward of US $3000 to $ 15000. You also stand a chance to get hired by Google and other tech companies. 

These options may or may not get you any cheques initially. However, they help you build your portfolio and give a solid foundation to your technical writing career.

Conclusion

As we come to the end of this post, I hope you are now clear about what a technical writing job is, what technical writers do, and how to become a technical writer. Let me quickly sum up the tips once again. You can keep it as a checklist for yourself and start achieving one milestone after the other.

• Get the right training
• Get the domain knowledge
• Look around for technical content of your domain
• Practice writing the right way
• Refer the style guides prevalent in your industry
• Seek feedback from industry experts
• Apply for technical writing jobs

With the proper training and skill set, you as a technical writer can be an asset to organizations in achieving their technical communication goals. If you have a knack for technical content and are interested in communicating them through writing, then do not wait. Technical writing is the way to go!

Frequently-asked questions (FAQs)

1. I’m a student who has been writing projects during graduation in B.tech. Can I become a technical writer?

Yes, you can. In fact, these days there are many engineers who choose to write product documentations, requirements and research papers instead of writing code.

Work on honing your writing skills and practice writing technical content. Also, develop industry-specific technical skills in your area of interest. You can even talk to a technical writer to understand the expectations of employers and how you can meet them.

2. What are the career opportunities for a technical writer?

Depending on the industry, a technical writer may take different roles such as

• Technical trainers
• Technical communicator
• Medical documentation specialist
• Content developer
• Information designer
• Software documentation specialist

3. I’m a non-native English speaker. What other languages are preferred in technical writing?

English is the predominant medium of communication in technical writing. But many organizations are working on expanding to potential markets in countries where English is not the preferred language. In such scenarios, they look for people with good communication skills in these local languages.

As per a recent survey, other than English, Arabic, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, and Japanese are the most spoken languages. Therefore, proficiency in one of these languages can be advantageous in some specific cases. If you know any of these languages, you can apply for such open technical writing positions where your linguistic skills in addition to the technical skills give you competitive advantage over others.