Technical Writing Beyond Blogposts
Technical writing is the art of breaking complex information into simple terms. In Software development, technical writing involves creating documentation, guides, or manuals to explain how to use a particular technology or tool. It is like the blueprint for using and understanding a product.
There’s much more to technical writing than churning out blog posts. Yes, you’ve written an article on “how to build a web app with React” and several others but that’s just the basic approach to technical writing. People often confuse technical writing with technical content writing, while the former gives full information about a product, the latter focuses on engaging an audience and raising awareness about a product.
This article will highlight various things that can help you become a better technical writer than just writing blog posts.
1. Explore Other Forms of Technical Writing.
There are different forms of technical writing, but for the sake of this article, we’ll be focusing on software technical writing. Exploring different forms of technical writing makes you versatile and helps to broaden your skills. Some other forms of technical writing you can explore:
User-Focused Documentation
This type of documentation is primarily aimed at end-users who need to learn how to operate, troubleshoot, or maximize the potential of a software product, service, or device.
User Manuals
Installation Guides
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Training Materials
Troubleshooting Guides
Developer Documentation
This type of documentation is primarily aimed at software developers, engineers, and programmers who need to understand, integrate, and utilize software libraries, frameworks, APIs, or other technical tools.
API Documentation
Software Development Kits (SDKs) Documentation
Developer Guides
Reference Materials
Platform Documentation
If you’re wondering how to start writing technical documentation, the best way to approach it to use well-written documentation as a reference, for instance, Twillo and Stripe. Study this documentation well and then use it to write your documentation for a product that inspires you, a fictional product, or use the information gotten to contribute to open source.
2. Learn how to write for different audiences.
Effective communication through writing involves understanding your target audience and tailoring your content according to their needs and interests. Different audiences have varying levels of understanding and preferred styles of communication. Here are some tips to help you understand how to write for different audiences:
Identify and understand your target audience. Are they beginners, what’s their level of technical expertise, and why would they need this article you’re working on? Knowing these things will help you tailor your content accordingly.
Use language appropriate for the audience’s level of understanding. Avoid using too many complex terms for beginners and if there’s a need to use them, try to introduce it gradually into your content.
The tone of your content matters a lot. You don’t want your content to sound overly persuasive when the goal is to sound informative.
Structure your content properly. A well-structured content aids in readability. Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to enhance clarity.
Visual aids like diagrams, illustrations, and infographics are your friends, learn to use them!
3. Pick up new skills that are relevant to your role.
One of the ways to constantly upskill or get new ideas about what to learn as a technical writer is to check job boards frequently. You’ll see tools and technologies that are usually required for that role; if it’s something you’re unfamiliar with, you can explore it.
Learning how to code or understanding how it works is also beneficial to you as a technical writer as you'll most likely be working with developers. This will help you understand a lot of technical things.
4. Read!
If you’re going to be an excellent writer, you also need to be a voracious reader. As a technical writer, reading is as important as writing is to you. Read other people’s work, read already existing documentation, and read books that are written by experienced professionals. This will help you see beyond your perspective.
Finally…
This article is not intended to gatekeep technical writing. This article intends to help you see the things you can do to become a better technical writer.
Exploring other aspects of technical writing helps to broaden your skillset. Just like some developers know how to write and use different programming languages, you can also be a technical writer who knows how to work on different kinds of documentation.