So, what does a technical writer do?

Glad you asked! The field is wide open, and while you can pursue a technical writing/communications degree at many universities, it’s not necessary for breaking into the field (says the woman with the Bachelor of Arts in Russian).

Jobs include: technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists, technical illustrators, instructional designers, information architects, visual designers, web designers and developers, and translators.

You don’t need to know everything about computers or a certain industry to be a technical writer. Curiosity is one of the technical writer’s greatest assets. Want a problem solved? Give it to a group of technical writers. They won’t rest until they have the answer.

For more information, visit Society for Technical Communication.

How do you balance the technical and creative writing?

Quite easily, oddly enough. I enjoy both types of writing and have no problem juggling several projects at once. Recently, a contest judge remarked to me that she wasn’t surprised to learn I was a technical writer, since my fiction had a precision to it. But she wondered whether it stifled my creativity.

Both types of writing involve creativity, which is one of the joys of this work. It takes creativity and organization to figure out the best way to present a software manual or to structure a novel.

I even wrote an article on this for The Wet Noodle Posse. You can read it here.

How do I get started in writing?

One small step at a time. What trips up most beginning writers, in any genre, is the enormity of it all. Even experienced writers can’t plan and write a novel in one day, or a software manual for that matter.

I’ve listed a few references in For Readers & Writers for both technical and creative writing. If you have a specific question, drop me a line via the Contact form.