FAQ of Technical Writing

1. What is technical writing?

A. Technical writing deals with the preparation of User Guides, User Manuals, Case Studies, Test Cases, Project Flow and other kinds of Technical documents. To keep it in nutshell, the technical writer deals with the writing about the processes or products, which are technical in nature.

It is wrong to assume that technical writers are confined only to Software industry as they are seen and required in other fields too such as electronics, electrical, mechanical, telecom, medical, and agriculture.

2. Can a non-technical person become a technical writer?

A. The answer is partly yes and partly no. There are certain areas where even a non-technical person, with low or no domain knowledge, can work and there are certain areas where only domain experts can do justification to the work.

3. I am good at English. Hence, can I become a technical writer?

A. Command over English is mandatory for becoming a technical writer. However, command over English is not the only requirement for becoming a technical writer. The aspirant must fulfill several other requirements such as knowledge of certain tools like Robo Help, Frame Maker, Ms-Visio and Snag IT. He must also know certain basic web designing tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. If the technical writer is supposed to work on hardware documentation, he should possess at least a reasonable level of awareness about hardware. If he is supposed to work on specific domains like SAP, JAVA and .Net, he must have at least basic awareness of concerned domains.

4. Is there any difference between technical writing and business writing?

A. The main goal of business writing is to sell the product or convince the client or bid for a project while the aim of the technical writing is to guide or educate the user. The end-user of business writing is the customer/client while that of the technical writing is the user. The business writing aims to sell while the technical writing intends to tell. The business writing aims to impress or convince while the technical writing aims to guide and educate. The business writing deals with the pre-sale period while the technical writing deals with the post-sale period.   

5. How are the job opportunities for technical writers outside?

A. The job opportunities for technical writers are very bright in the market. Nowadays, one can find technical writer in all the certified companies. If one visits the database of any job portal, one can find thousands of applicants for the post of Software Engineer. But, one finds a few hundreds of aspirants for the post of Technical writer. For the post of technical writer, the competition is relatively lower.

6. There may be demand for Technical writers now. But, what will be its future?

A. The demand for technical writers exists as long as the technology exists and the technology exists as long as the humanity exists.