Technical writing, a must have skill for every profession.
Every profession in his/her carrier has come across with producing technical documentation such as;
- Blog post
- Developer documentations
- API Documentation
- Social media contents
- Resume and cover letter
- Problem-solving report
- Process analysis
- Letter of compliant
- Formal proposal
- Memorandum
- Business plan
- Letter of denial
- Letter of transmittal
- Technical communication
- Instructions
- Summary
In order to communicate your ideas well, you need to learn this essential skill. It takes years of focused practice to become a great technical writer.
According to payscale technical writing is one of the lucrative careers in technology as the salary range from $50,157 to $75,819. (includes tips, bonus, and overtime pay)
The information age has come with work from home lifestyle, as a technical writer you may benefit from this opportunity since technical writing can be accomplished totally remotely. What you need are a computer and a good internet connection.
When you are writing a technical document, you need to consider these factors.
- Purpose
- Type of audience
- Using visual aids
- Organizing your writing
- Revising sentences
- Editing your writing
Purpose
The type of technical content is affected by how it is produced. For instance, if you are writing for product users, without technical knowledge, technical terms need to be well-defined.
Types of audience
Your audience which you are writing for will affect the way you write. You should consider these factors before deciding on how to write;
- Education of your audience
- Expertise
- Use
Using visual aids
Your technical documents should be well accompanied by visual aids such as;
- Tables
- Charts
- Drawing
- Photo
Visual aids can be produced by using Microsoft Word software, Canva, and gimp or by taking screenshots of your screen.
In some situations, visual aids are used as warnings. For instance, when you are producing instructions and manuals, you may use visual aids to indicate the danger.
Organizing your technical document depends on what you are writing, what is your purpose, and who you are writing to. After analyzing that, you may produce content according to its;
- Chronological
- Spatial
- Comparison/contrast
- Classification
- Order of importance
- Main idea/Significance
- Problem/solution.
Revising sentences
When you are producing technical content, sentence structure is the basic building block of good writing. Errors in sentence structure like comma splices, run-ons, and fragments can cause trouble in reading if not repaired.
Editing your writing
This is the final step in producing a technical document. In doing so, you need to check the spelling errors if available, removing biased and sexist language in order to treat your audience equally.
For example instead of writing;
- Businessman, you may use businessperson.
- Mankind, you may use humanity.
- The policeman you may use a police officer.
- Man-made materials you may use, synthetic.
- Fireman, you may use a firefighter.
- Mailman, you may use a mail carrier.
Also, when you edit your document, try to avoid wordiness. You must have to write so that others can understand you.
Courses to take to improve your technical writing skills;
Branding yourself as a technical writer
When you are branding yourself as a technical writer, consider starting writing on platforms like medium, dev.to, and hashnode. Find the piece of software that you use every day and start writing about it. Also, you can start writing about hot topics like blockchain technologies and web3 and establish yourself as an expert in that field.
Gaining real-life experience in technical writing is achieved by starting to contribute to open-source projects. Google season of docs is one of them. Also, you may need to consider other open-source projects like Mozilla, and openMRS.
Website that pays technical writers;
After learning and mastering these essential skills, you can start writing for others. You can do so as a freelance technical writer or a ghostwriter hence earning additional income.
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