There is a wide range of jobs available for writers who (a) have a technical background or (b) can use their existing skill with words in technical writing projects. It's actually surprising that many writers seeking freelance writing jobs overlook this wide-open field. So what kinds of jobs are out there?
Technical Writing Jobs – An Overview
Technical writing covers a wide range of career opportunities. Some writers don't even both looking at technical writing jobs because they think they'll be writing about computers all day long, or writing dull user manuals for software or electrical goods.
While these do fit into the technical writing range, there are many more jobs available. Some examples:
- Writing reference manuals and materials.
- Creating online help files
- Updating material in old manuals, worksheets, audit sheets, and standard operating procedures
- Working as part of a team creating a linked set of documents or reference material
- Being responsibl for every new technical document created by an organisation
- Scripting content for online learning courses
- Creating assessment questions for a specific topic
- Writing training manuals
- Writing employee guidelines
- Creatin technical presentations using PowerPoint
- Writing newsletters
- Writing proposals and grant applications
A technical writer can be assigned work designing a single sheet of information (which might take a day to produce) or a hefty manual (which might take a year).
Can Someone Without a Technical Background be a Technical Writer?
Yes, absolutely. In fact, many technical writers started out not knowing anything about the area. They don't actually need to (although it can be an advantage to secure certain jobs) – rather, they work with Subject Matter Experts (known as SMEs).
Some businesses even feel that it is an advantage having someone who does not have a technical background working with the SME. Why? Because anything the writer doesn't understand, he questions. This usually leads to clearer explanations and step-by-step procedures that don't accidentally leave out a step.
One way of thinking about technical writing is that it simply explains 'how to'. That covers a huge amount of material - quite a lot of it probably in the writer's own home: guides to electronic equipment, recipe books, handbooks, so-called "Dummies' guides" to using popular software, and self-help books on any subject. In addition, textbooks for educational institutions at all levels are created by technical writers.
What Skills Are Necessary to be a Good Technical Writer?
Technical writers need to be able to send a message that is clear, concise and useful for the intended readership. However, fiction writers often excel at this kind of writing, too, because they are good at engaging the reader and making potentially dull material more interesting. Writers with a teaching background often make good technical writers, because a lot of this kind of writing involves explaining challenging concepts to readers who are in a hurry or who simply want to find out how to get the job done now.
In short, a good technical writer understands the importance of knowing his audience. To get the message across, it's important to be able to visualise the person who will be reading the manual or information sheet. Writers who have a clear picture of the audience can often see potential problems that SMEs miss. (Subject matter experts often tend to be blinkered to this sort of thing. They know their subject so well that they fail to see where others might stumble in understanding or implementing the content.) There is a high value placed on the technical writer who is prepared to say "Hang on: if I were the person picking up this manual for the first time, I don't think I'd know what you meant by xxx", and then provide a solution. This can save a lot of man-hours at a later date.
Technical Writing Jobs Working as Part of a Team
Even though technical writers tend to work on their own for long stretches of time, they are often part of a larger team working on a project. This team may include graphic designers, printers, marketers, IT staff who deploy online learning programs, and of course the SMEs. A technical writer who can deliver content on time and with a high degree of accuracy will be a valued member of such a team.
Writers who are interested in extending their freelance writing opportunities by becoming a technical writer will find that it's relatively easy to get started, because of the large number of writing jobs in this field. Guru.com, for example, is one site that regularly advertises technical writing jobs for freelance writers. In addition, writers who are already in the 9-to-5 workplace should take a good look around and see if there are opportunities to make technical writing part of their job description. It's a great way to gain tech writing qualifications in preparation for a freelance writing career.
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