My Views on Technical Writing

Recently, when I was asked to write an article for my company newsletter, I could not think of any better topic than writing about what I have learned working at a client location. I post the article on my blog for all those who read my blog and for those who like to know about Technical Writing. Whatever I pen down here are merely my thoughts and experiences and is not seconded by any study or survey :-).
Working at a client side is a perfect way of learning for those who prefer to be left to learn from the deep-end of the pool. To succeed as a good Technical Writer, one should, in my opinion, possess the following skills:

• Writing skills. The basic and the most important skill required for any writer. Technical writing is about writing grammatically correct sentences in a clear and concise manner. Ensure that you polish your grammar, you can be surprised at the list of things you were not aware of or rather you thought you knew but didn’t know.
• Technical skills. Quiet naturally, a skill that is required to be a TECHNICAL writer. You should be technical enough to understand the language your subject matter expert (SME) talks.
  
  Before this whole TW industry was into being, they still had user manuals and other technical documents created by engineers and developers whose core area of expertise was not in writing. The need to have Technical Writers arose because there was a requirement for manuals to be written for non-technical audience, using user-friendly language. Sometimes, being less technical is ideal, for, you are then limited to writing in a simpler language and hence the purpose of creating understandable document is met. In a fast-growing industry like ours, we need to be aware of all the existing technology and domains. We need to have a liking and openness to learn more on the job. Those who might appear for client interviews must brush up their knowledge on the client domain.
• Tools skills. Though I do not consider this skill among the most important ones, you should have some basic knowledge about desktop publishing tools such as MS Word and FrameMaker. Specialize in one of the most happening tools, and have a minimal understanding about the other authoring tools in the market rather than being the jack of all trades and master of none.
• Soft skills. The following are some important soft skills that you require to work without roadblocks:
  


• Ability to extract information. At a client location, you have to interact verbally with SMEs to extract information. Do your bit of research on the basics and figure out the irrelevant things that they expect you to know. Make a list of questions on what you are not clear about so that the SME understands what exactly you wish to know. This way he knows that you respect his time, which makes him pour out more.
• Have a work plan for each day. It is possible that you might not stick to your work plan on a daily basis. It can change or be altered because of many factors including the availability of the SME or application. However, having a work plan helps you keep a track of all the tasks that are pending and reduces the possibility of missing any.
• Willingness to learn. You have to keep learning about the new tools, domains, and concepts. The best way to create awareness about the industry is to subscribe to Technical Writing mailing lists like TWIN.
• Capability to trouble-shoot. While working from the Collabis office, trouble-shooting was something I considered as my manager’s job :-). While working for my first onsite project, I realized that it is up to me to try it and to seek help only if I failed. The happiest days were those when I figured out a solution by myself!
  

Having penned all these, I must admit that it is easier to put in words than in practice. I am still striving to acquire all these skill sets. All we need is, the confidence to keep going without bowing to failure!

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
-- Thomas Alva Edison.

Copyright © 2008, Jaini Joseph.