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Technical writer

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A technical writer creates documentation for a field or technology. Their responsibility, like a graphic designer's, is to effectively communicate a message. A technical writer is responsible for writing text that is helpful to their intended audience: accurate, readable, and accessible.

Technical communication

Technical writing, a subset of technical communication, is used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, consumer electronics, and biotechnology.

At the beginning of a project, the technical writer identifies the audience for the documentation. For example, a writer might be documenting how to use a VCR for a non-technical person of average literacy, who needs to know how to set the time and record television shows or for a technician, who must diagnose, repair, or replace internal components.

Technical writers often have a certification or degree in English, technical writing, the technical field for which they are writing, or a combination of these. It is most important that they have enough expertise to understand their audience's background and needs. Writers who develop documentation for software APIs, microcontroller operation, and other technical subjects are often paid more than those who write guides for a nontechnical audience (for example, how to use email), because it is difficult to find good writers with advanced technical knowledge.

After the documentation is written using a desktop publishing tool or a help authoring tool, it is normally reviewed for accuracy by one or more "Subject Matter Experts" (SMEs).

Technical writers are known in the United Kingdom and some other countries as technical authors. Technical writers are also known as information designers, information developers, and information architects.

Many experienced technical writers have knowledge in printing processes, HTML, Javascript, PHP, Database Administration, Graphic Design, and Business Marketing. This enables a documentation department to create a useful way to deliver thousands of documents to an audience without outside dependance. Without this knowledge, the documentation department is very dependent on others to deliver the final product.

Technical writing

The entire point of Technical writing (aka Information Development) is to communicate and disseminate useful information. Technical communications are created and distributed by most employees in service organizations today, especially by professional staff and management. Writing well is difficult and time-consuming, and writing in a technical way and about technical subjects compounds the difficulties. To be useful, information must be understood and acted upon. Fortunately, tools and techniques are available to make writing more accessible and easy to understand.

Effective communications require quality content, language, format, and more. To present the appropriate content, it is imperative to understand one’s audience and writing purpose. If a document does not communicate the information that the writer intends and what he or she wants the reader to understand, then the communication is meaningless.

The writer has a self-interest in making the extra effort: looking credible is as important as being credible and getting results in business. Respect and credibility of the writer/speaker are integral to effective communications. Readers will not trust the information from an author if they do not believe that author is a valuable source of information or the purveyor of worthwhile ideas. Furthermore, being respected is essential to being persuasive, a key ingredient in business.

What is technical writing?

Technical writing is communication, the primary aim of which is to convey a particular piece of information to a particular reader or group of readers for a particular purpose. It is exposition essentially about scientific subjects and various technical subjects associated with sciences. Stated another way, technical writing is "translating technical ideas into words a specific audience will understand."

A "technical" approach to writing

How one writes is as important as what one writes. So, language itself is important to enable readers to understand and believe the written text. Language affects a reader's ability to comprehend and assimilate what a writer is presenting. Furthermore, people can, and do, judge things by outward appearances all the time; it is essential to make good impressions when communicating in a business setting. When one communicates (whether writing, giving a speech, or talking on the phone), information must be presented effectively, consistently and, to a large degree, attractively. These elements strongly affect perceived writer and organizational credibility and professionalism -- highly sought-after commodities for individual and organizational success.

Format, organization, and style are important in that they make information available, accessible, and readable. Format and the like are the "how" of a written presentation. Format choices can give a document the highly sought-after technical or business "look" organizations hope for. In essence, this is part of "corporate identity" promotion.

Definitions

There are many definitions of technical writing. It is seen as its own species of business writing. Technical writing is a specialized, structured way of writing, where information is presented in a format and manner that best suits the cognitive and psychological needs of the readers, so they can respond to a document as its author intended and achieve the purpose related to that document. Thus, it is writing formatted and shaped to make reading as simple, poignant, unequivocal, and enjoyable as possible (i.e., "user friendly"). It so happens that most technical writing positions are still primarily offered to those who can write effective end-user manuals, system design documents, Web sites, and the like for engineering and IT firms.

A good technical writer can write about a complicated technical subject or task in ways that almost anyone can clearly understand.

Precision in technical writing tends to be critical because if anything is described incorrectly, readers may act improperly on what is said, causing mistakes and problems at work. The Society for Technical Communication is probably the largest technical writing association. The STC defines technical communication as "The process of gathering information from experts and presenting it to an audience in a clear, easily understandable form". "Technical writing and editing is an umbrella term for any sort of professional communication. It's the interface between your ideas and the rest of the world."

"Technical writing is the presentation of information that helps the reader solve a particular problem. Technical communicators write, design, and/or edit proposals, manuals, web pages, lab reports, newsletters, and many other kinds of professional documents."
"The transfer of specialized information from subject matter experts to those who need to use it."
"Expository writing that requires a response from the reader."

Tech writing 2.0

"Tech Writing 2.0" is a term coined by Ellis Pratt of Cherryleaf for the application of Web 2.0 technologies to technical documentation. "Tech Writing 2.0" is a move away from static, broadcast, documentation to more participative and aggregative information resources.

Deliverables

Technical writing is most often associated with online Help and user manuals; however, there are other forms of technical content created by technical writers, including:

  • Alarm clearing procedures
  • Annumciator response procedures
  • Application programming interface programmers' guides
  • Bulleted lists
  • Certification and accreditation activities
  • Corporate disclaimers
  • Feature Design documentation
  • Getting Started cards or guides
  • Hardware maintenance and repair procedures
  • Installation guides
  • Magazine articles
  • Network administrators' guides
  • Network configuration guides
  • Network recovery guides
  • Policies and procedures
  • Presentations
  • Proposals
  • Reference documents
  • Release notes
  • Reports
  • Requirements documentation
  • Scientific reports
  • Site preparation guides
  • Specifications
  • Technical papers
  • Training materials
  • Troubleshooting guides
  • Tutorials
  • User guides
  • White papers

Associations

Technical writers
Technical writing
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