🚀Entering Tech #009: How to become a technical writer

Q. In your own words, what does a technical writer do?

A technical writer creates documentation for product or engineering teams. It’s writing documents that tell whoever wants to use that tool or product how to get the best out of it. 

The product can be an API, an SDK, or even a package.

Q. What are the hardest and easiest parts of becoming a technical writer?

The easiest part of becoming a technical writer is finding resources; there are many resources online. 

It’s also easy to create a portfolio when you begin to get the hang of it. Technical writing is all about writing and explaining stuff so once you know enough, you can create a blog and start publishing explainers. 

The hardest part is getting the first formal opportunity. You’ll have to knock on a lot of doors and maybe even learn a lot of tools. It will be hard to break into the scene and learn tools. As a technical writer, you’ll have to learn about the stack your team uses and it means each time you change roles, you have to learn a new stack and use a new set of tools. This can be daunting. 

Q. When and why did you choose to become a technical writer?

I knew I wanted to become a technical writer when I figured out writing was something I enjoyed doing. I really enjoy breaking things down and explaining things to people. 

It wasn’t something I planned. I have a lot of non-technical friends and they come up to me for questions; when I realised I could explain this clearly, then I started to lean into it. 

Q. How did you learn technical writing? And what struggles did you face while doing it?

I didn’t learn technical writing; it’s something I just started. I started writing on social media about the challenges I faced as a developer and how I overcame them. Then Educative.io reached out to me and asked me to write for their blog. 

It was just me consuming resources, reading blogs, and courses on technical writing, documentation and communication. Even if I didn’t have hands-on practice while I was learning, consuming these resources filled my head with technical writing and made it easier for me to fit into the role. 

The struggle I faced was with my writing. My writing was crazy and it needed help. It’s still something I’m working on, learning to write for different audiences and regions. 

Q. What are the biggest misconceptions about technical writing?

Everyone thinks all technical writers should do is write; it’s not. I worked at a place where I was expected to have a list of everything I did on a day-to-day basis, but there were some days when all I did was research the product, and the team felt like this was a waste of resources. 

Writing is just 20% of technical writing. The real work is research and understanding what you’re actually writing about. You could have a whole year to work on a document and you’ll spend at least half of that just auditing the product you’re writing about.