What makes a good Technical Writer?
Ankita Tripathi has 6+ years of experience in writing, community management, & developer relations and she recently got selected for GSoD'21! Read on to get insightful tips on Technical Writing.
Amrita Mishra
I had a session with Ankita Tripathi today! She has 6+ years of experience working as a Technical writer and consultant. Moreover, she also got selected for Google Season of Docs 2021 (GSoD’21).
Learn about her journey and more on GSoD here.
Should one be from a Technical Background to be a Technical Writer?
Long answer short, NO.
A Global Community of Technical Writers, Write the Docs, constitutes writers from various backgrounds.
What are the different types of Technical Writing?
There are so many types of technical writing categories that it is hard to define and state them. Here are a few of them:
- Product Documentation - Hardware (like User Manuals) & Software-specific (How to run a program? How does a software work?) documentation
- Blogs like how self-driving cars work etc.
- E-books
You discover more niches and categories as you work more in the field.
Who can be a technical writer? What are the skills required in technical writing?
If you’re someone interested in Products, you must go for technical writing.
Basic skills required:
- Crisp Writing Skills
- Presenting your writing in a simplified manner so that readers can understand it
- Exceptional Grammar - every technical writing job needs this skill.
Some best resources for Technical Writing
- Write the Docs Community
- “I’d Rather be Writing,” a blog series by Tom Johnson
- Documentation tab on various Websites to learn about the structure
- Style guides - Chicago Manuals, Google Developer, Microsoft
- Newsletters - The Morning Brew, YourStory, etc., for Technical Updates across the world
- Product Use Case Studies like Growth.design (Even I’m a HUGE FAN of this website)
What are the platforms to start with Technical Writing?
- Medium - For any beginner writer
- Technical Writing for Open Source products
Money is essential but don’t chase it too much. Do things that are good for your growth too.
Best tips for new Technical Writers
- Start. Maybe start writing on Medium & Open Source.
- If you want to explore, you can start with collaboration with a fellow technical writer too.
- Talk to many technical writers.
- Be a part of a community.
It might become boring after some time. You can always switch sides.
How can technical writers leverage social media & community platforms?
Many technical writers are active on Reddit (FeedSpot Digest) and the Write the Docs community.
I hope this article was helpful for you.
If you’re interested in knowing about each point mentioned in this article in detail, I’ll highly recommend you check out the entire conversation on YouTube.
Until next time with an insightful conversation with another Creator. :)
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Amrita Mishra
I am a Freelancer in Content Marketing and Social Media Management with 3+ years of experience. I have run Zenithec Techware Pvt Ltd as a Co-founder and CMO and also worked on a Mental Health platform called Avasar.life (http://www.avasar.life) for 3 years. My experience helped me understand marketing in business and I believe that "Great Marketing doesn't feel like Marketing." Here's what I can help you with: - Blog/Article Writing - Website Content Writing - Social Media Handle Management - Content Marketing Strategy I got featured in "Top 100 Content Writers" out of 3000+ Content Writers by Contracts and Freelancers in September 2020. I feel lucky to have 5+ happy clients (and counting) in various niches - Productivity, Mental Health, Marketing, MBA Life, Shoes, Technology, etc.
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