Next, you have to synthesize that information and decide how to organize it. Often, you’re exploring a new topic-say, overhead cranes that are used to move heavy items around factory floors.įirst, you need to interview an expert-or multiple experts-to help you understand just how these machines work. Someone writes that stuff, and we do it because we want to help.Ten Best Practices for Technical Writing and Editing So the next time you’re installing new software on your computer and encounter an error, or you can’t remember how to set up a Microsoft Excel macro, click the Help icon and search the documentation.
When you’re browsing the internet for the answer to a question and find some product FAQs or online help, a technical writer wrote that content. When a pilot is safety checking an airplane, a technical writer wrote that manual. When you’re setting up your coffee maker, a technical writer wrote those instructions.
Well, I love my job because technical writers are behind the scenes, helping people when they need it. Sometimes when I get that blank stare, people ask me why I do what I do. Can you imagine if an airplane manual only gave a brief overview of how to operate an airplane? So Why Do You Do It? By getting to know everything about our product and explaining everything we can, we help our readers understand the product and learn to use it correctly. To a technical writer, the more information in your document, the better. While a report or proposal might give a “30,000-foot overview” of a topic, that isn’t adequate in technical documentation. Third, although it is direct, technical documentation is also very detailed. Instead, we get right to the point and tell you just what you need to know-and all of the caveats and warnings that will help you along the way. You won’t find any extra fluff in an online help system (although technical writers love to use examples to illustrate concepts). Second, technical documentation is usually very direct. The key purpose of a technical document is to help you learn what you need to know. This attention to detail and organization makes it easy for you to find out what you need to do, do it, and get on with your day. The documentation I write as a technical writer is very different from all of these other kinds of writing.įirst, technical documentation is often heavily focused on steps and processes, and it is painstakingly organized. I’ve had lots of different jobs where I’ve written lots of different things: proposals, reports, press releases, and marketing slicks. How Is it Different from Other Kinds of Writing? With these skills, a technical writer is often responsible for many kinds of writing: manuals, online Help systems, or even video tutorials. We’re also skilled at organizing information so it flows logically. We take complicated concepts and break them down into easy-to-understand pieces. Simply put, technical writers explain things. I usually laugh and make some kind of self-deprecating joke. I never realized that someone actually wrote that stuff.”
If you’ve ever used Help in Word or something, that was written by someone like me.” So whenever my users need help, they click the ‘Help’ button and they read my writing. “Well, I write the directions for a software program. I’m used to getting a blank stare when I tell people my occupation. Hi, My Name is Kate and I’m a Technical Writer. What is technical writing and how does it differ from other kinds of content? Northeastern alumna Kate Schneider, a senior technical writer at MadCap Software, explains.
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