What is a technical writer?

Technical writing/technical documentation/technical communications are all used to describe a writing style companies use to communicate information to specific audiences.

The three audience categories and sub-categories are:

Experts

• Experts are people who may have advanced degrees in academic settings, or in research and development in government and the business community. This audience may be difficult and very picky, so you will need a very thick skin. This type of technical writing is at a very senior level.

Managers and Decision Makers

• Managers and Decision Makers are usually responsible for project funding, determining timelines, deliverables, and assigning resources. It’s very important to keep them happy at all times. This audience also includes Project Managers. They can be very appreciative if they like you and very critical of you and your work if they don’t.

Non-Specialists

• Non-Specialists include employees and end users. Most documentation is written for this audience. Companies want their employees to be able to understand their daily duties with as little formal training as possible.

A good technical writer needs strong language and teaching skills and must understand and be able to communicate ideas, instructions, and content to their audience.

If a technical writer is going to work for a company or as a freelance writer, it’s a good idea to take some computer science courses. Knowing your way around the IT world is a helpful tool if you choose to be a technical writer.

If you can come into a project knowing how to map a printer, use the company software, use the internet to research content, and understand industry standards, you can survive in the technical writing world. It’s also helpful to have good communication/people skills.

You must be able to work well in a team environment and completely by yourself. A lot of projects are done onsite at the company campus. You must be able to work during the core hours defined by the company and attend all scheduled meetings. You have to be a good note taker, too.

You must have great prioritization skills and have a great instinct for knowing what you must do and when it needs to be done.

When a technical writer is creating software documentation they must have a usable copy of the software and learn as much as they can, while they are writing about it. A good technical writer must also be able to formulate the questions to gather information.