The Art of Technical Writing

Most publicly distributed writing is either advertising or technical writing. It is easy to tell the difference: advertising is designed to sell a product, a brand or idea, while true technical writing should generally only inform. Whenever you buy something it comes with writing done by a technical writeror somebody the company uses instead of hiring a technical writer. They also write almost every other kind of document a company needs, from very technical papers to advertising copy and brochures. This is because many companies only have one writer, technical or otherwise.Some of this work is quite mundane and boring, but some is also very exciting. Technical writers get to see new things before anybody else see them. Often they are in on a new development from the first idea stage, long before it ever becomes a product. They help with the development, learn the product and figure out how to make it easy for the final consumer, or end user, to use it.More than this, the technical writer must be able to write exciting prose that is clear, concise and easy to understand. The writer must very carefully consider the audience, and adjust the language, format and organization to fit the needs and taste of the reader. They also often need simple graphics skills and skills with flash, simple diagrammers, such as Smartdraw or Visio and simply photo, sound and video editing and illustrations. A technical writer needs superior communications skills in both writing and speaking to be able communicate in the language of everyone involved with the company, including the final consumers. For example, they might have to speak marketing with one group, financial jargon with another, scientific and technical language with developers and programmers, business development with executives and finally the language of the client. It is an art to be able to translate what one group says to the language of another totally different group and to finally create the documentation for the end user.Like artists and musicians, technical writers have a highly developed creative ability, but they must also be technically savvy. That is, they must be able to understand and even love very complicated technologies. Most of us are either artistic or technical. Finally, the technical writer must be a quick learner, as they usually are writing the direction, and they are also the last quality control before a product is released. Of course, that is the real reason that some users’ guides and other technical writing is so boring, since many companies think anyone can write directions. If you have both these abilities you should consider this career, as good technical writers are in short supply.