Technical Writing: Basic Skills

Technical writing is a dynamic field that demands a unique set of skills for both entry and sustained success. The top skills necessary to become a technical writer are:

• Writing proficiency: Strong command of language, grammar, and syntax
• Communication skills: Clear and concise communication.
• Technical aptitude: Basic understanding of technical concepts relevant to the industry.
• Advanced Technical Knowledge: In-depth understanding of complex technical subjects.
• Research skills: Ability to gather information from diverse sources.
• Content Strategy: Developing a holistic approach to content creation.
• User-Centered Design (UCD): Focus on creating documentation that prioritizes user experience.
• Adaptability: Flexibility to adjust to changing technologies and industry standards.
• Project management: Ability to manage documentation projects from inception to completion.
• Localization: Understanding the impact of cultural differences on documentation.
• Critical Thinking: Analyzing complex information and problem-solving.
• Other Soft Skills: Clarity of thought, continuous learning, attention to detail, focus, problem solving, concern for consistency, avoiding assumptions, responsibility, handling stress and pressure, team collaboration, time management, integrity, active listening, etc.

If you are aspiring to become a technical writer, focus on honing these skills by reading about the required skills, understanding the writing techniques and styles, and implementing them in your writing. You can also try to take on internships. Continuous learning, adaptability, and a commitment to improving your craft will position you for long-term success in the dynamic field of technical writing.

After becoming a technical writer, to thrive and sustain in this field you have to work even harder. You will have to work to improvise the existing skills (listed above) if not more:

• Writing proficiency: Continual improvement in writing style and clarity. Be clear and and specific. Your thought should be translated properly and clearly into the documentation, without any scope for speculation or confusion.
• Communication skills: Effective collaboration with diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Ability to analyze: The keyword for producing good documentation is ANALYZE! You should have the ability to analyze the audience, demands of the project, information required, plan the project, project timelines, etc.
• Technical aptitude: Ongoing learning to stay abreast of evolving technologies and to have intelligent conversation with the SMEs.
• Advanced Technical Knowledge: Continuous learning and specialization in emerging technologies.
• Research skills: Continuous improvement in researching techniques and staying updated on industry trends.
• Content Strategy: Evolving content strategy to align with changing business needs and user expectations.
• User-Centered Design (UCD): Keeping abreast of UX/UI design principles and incorporating them into documentation.
• Adaptability: Proactively seeking opportunities to enhance skills and adapt to new tools and methodologies.
• Project management: Enhancing project management skills for larger and more complex projects.
• Localization: Mastering localization processes and ensuring content is adaptable to diverse audiences.
• Critical Thinking: Developing a keen ability to anticipate user needs and challenges.
• Flexibility: Documents often require many revisions or may even be abandoned after many hours of hard work. You should exhibit a fair amount of flexibility at work. Also be ready to adapt to the new tools, processes, styles, guidelines, technology, etc.
• Other Soft Skills:
  • Clarity of thought: Writing is a skill in itself, but clear writing is an indication of clear thought and thinking. This does not mean that clear thinkers are always good writers.
  • Build effective relationships with cross-functional teams, management, and stakeholders.
  • Unlearn the old and learn new subject, tools, process, workflows, etc. as per requirement.
  • Along with project management, also improve time management skills. Both are inter-related.
  • Improve 3Ps: Professionalism, patience, and perseverance
  • Editing skills: Pay more attention to stylistic matters, how to write, what to write, what not to write. Slowly improve your editing skills.
  • Pay attention to detail. Most of the time, you see what you get to see and you understand the product based on that limited knowledge. You should have complete understanding of the subject/product you are writing about to do justice to your writing and audience.
  • Decision making: You are expected to make decisions at every step of the project (from start till the very end). How to write, what to include in the document, what to prioritize, decide the flow of information, how to structure the content/document etc.

More can be added to this list…. for now, cheers and all the very best!