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What Are the Characteristics of a Good Technical Writer?

By Tom Guarnera

In my previous post, I started to address the question, “How Do I Become a Technical Writer?” I concluded that most writers do not set out to go into this field, but more likely happen into it by chance or by a series of stepping stones that naturally led them down this path. I stated that through nature and nurture, people are formed to become a writer. So, what characteristics make up your average writer?

I must start by making a point. Most writers that I have met along the way are far from “average” or “normal”. I think this is due to the number one characteristic of a Tech Writer. We are all nuts! OK, maybe not certifiably crazy, but just a little nutty. Probably a better way to describe us is to say we are quirky.

Why is this the case? If you think about it, there is a good explanation. Most people in this world tend to be more technical or more creative. As we know, you can be very right-brained and still be creative, but most people tend to fall into one of the two hemispheres. In contrast, technical writing is the process of taking very technical information and processing it so a larger group of readers can understand. This involves strong writing skills, understanding the technical inputs and a creative way to display this information for the reader.

Technical writers tend to fall somewhere in the middle as far as the whole left/right brained thing goes. This is characteristic number two. We have the ability to dip into both hemispheres of the brain, thus acting as a communication bridge for those that are predominately left or right.

This second characteristic probably explains a little of the first one. Since most people fall to one side or another, we come off as a little odd to everyone else.

The next characteristic of a good technical writer is that they must be a very detail oriented person. If you walk out to the nearest street and ask people if they are detailed oriented or not, you will probably get about 95 percent of the people who will say they are detail oriented. We know that this is not true. There is a huge chasm between those who say they are detailed oriented and those who are not. Unfortunately, I do not have a litmus test for this. Anyone have any hints on detecting this skill?

The next trait you find in a tech writer is that they must be part sleuth and part jack-booted thug. Many times the information needed in order to write a document cannot be found on the surface. You may need to dig deep into the brain of your subject matter expert (SME). Sometimes this can be done by carefully wording relevant questions. Other times this is done by brute force that may border on the side of criminal. You know those people who keep their money buried in the back yard so nobody can “steal” it? Well, there are the people who treat information the same way. For some reason, many of them are drawn to computer programming. To many of these SMEs it does not matter that you are on the same team and trying to serve the same organization goal. Mastering the trait of information extraction is not always easy. One place you acquire these skills is in the world of journalism. In fact, I am partial to hiring journalism majors to become junior level tech writers. My next posting will discuss this in further detail.

Another characteristic is the ability to write. This may seem entirely obvious, but it is much deeper than it may appear. Knowing how to write well and knowing how to be a good technical writer are not the same. For example, Herman Melville, the author of books “Moby Dick” and “Typee” writes very well. He is the master of spinning the English language into a tapestry of words and paragraphs that provide the reader with a picture that many people just cannot do. That said, I wouldn’t want to use software that had a help file written by him. I am admittedly not skilled enough in the English language to teach someone how to write like a tech writer. I do know that there are those who can write this way and those that can’t.

Finally, there are two final traits to possess as a technical writer. It is my opinion that to have long term survival in this field, you must be flexible and have a life-long thirst to learn. Flexibility is important because as you move through your career, you will find that each company has their own style. Worse than that, many companies do not have a style, but expect you to follow it none-the-less. Knowing how to bend and shape yourself without being a push over is vital. Along with that, you will need to constantly keep yourself in a position to learn. By its very nature, you will need to learn new applications or systems you are writing about. You may not have to know every detail, but yet still be able to communicate those details to the reader. Likewise you will always need to learn new tools and techniques used as a writer. As the world becomes more and more technologically advanced, so do the tools and systems used in the profession. Simply knowing Microsoft Word will not cut it these days. Being even a novice user in tools such as Adobe FrameMaker and RoboHelp, will put you far and above the average writer. Add to this the changes that are happening with languages such as XML and the DITA standard, and you have exciting opportunities to learn and prove yourself to be the better candidate.

I have identified some the characteristics, trains and skills needed to be a tech writer. In my next post, I will discuss where you might go to acquire some of these learned skills and where to look if you want to hire someone who possesses them.

Your Writing Dept is a Sacramento-based writing firm that specializes in developing technical manuals and how to guides. We’re the leaders in technical communications in Northern California. Email us for more information about our services at info@yourwritingdept.com.

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How Do I Become a Technical Writer?

By Tom Guarnera

I have recently seen a number of discussions asking technical writers if they chose to become a writer or if it was more by chance. After some side discussion with other technical writers, I started to think about the people who I have worked with and interviewed over the last 15 years. The interesting thing is that I have known very few people who one day decided to go into this profession and followed that with the question, “How do I become a Technical Writer?” In simple terms, nobody graduates from high school and says, I want to grow up and become a tech writer.

Why is that? One reason is that the field is not widely understood. This is often very evident by those who manage the people who manage tech writers. If you are experienced and work in a self-managed organization, this can be great. If you are in an autocratic org, there is nothing more painful than having upper management that have no clue as to what you do.

Another reason may be that there are very few Technical Writing programs in the college and university system. There are some English programs that, for example, offer a specialization in this field. More likely, you will find a program in a University Extension program.

So, if it is difficult to become educated in the field, where do these writers come from? Most writers that I have met through the years have landed in this job through circumstance. Of those people, the ones who excel in the field have done so through nature and nurture, but with little idea that this is the direction they are going.

In my follow-up post next week, I will ask What Are the Characteristics of A Good Technical Writer?

Your Writing Dept is a Sacramento-based writing firm that specializes in developing technical manuals and how to guides. We’re the leaders in technical communications in Northern California. Email us for more information about our services at info@yourwritingdept.com.

Additional Posts from Your Writing Dept

• Resumes that separate you from the rest of the crowd
• 18 Web Sites and Blogs That Will Improve Your Writing Skills
• How to stop confusing Me and I. Me and Billy will explain it to you
• InfoPorn: Presenting raw data with visually stimulating graphs
• How many spaces after a period? One or two?
• Tips for hiring an outsourced technical writing team to document your product or process