Technical Writing : Introduction
Technical writing or Technical communication is all about communicating
an idea to particular readers in an easily understandable way. The field
is gaining more importance in this current period of fast technological
advancement. Companies need the help of a Technical writer or Technical
communication professional, in order to translate or explain the technical
usage of their products in simple language so that even a common man who
could not understand the technical words and language could figure out
the advantages or the operation of their products or services. In short,
Technical writers specialise in writing technology for non-technical persons.
A technical writer writes reports that any technically oriented professional
/ expert/specialist do as part of their regular job. They write ‘how to
use’ manuals, project reports, online help files, instruction and installation
guides, make graphical presentations and brochures for products of various
industries like IT, consumer products, medical , journals etc. A technical
writer, who works with an engineer writes engineering and designing information
for common people. Usually he or she has to help an user to understand
a product and how to use it. For that, one should know the product and
understand its technology well although he or she is not an expert in
that. A technical writer develops an expertise in a particular technical
area for which one is working for, and whatever he writes or says about
the field, is termed as technical communication.
A technical writer should have an interest in science and technology.
And he should also have researching skill as he has to collect information
through books, internet and some times he needs to interview people who
are the technological experts in the field. The technical writer should
also possess good command over English and should know how to present
a matter in an easily understandable manner. A technical writer can find
work in various firms such as advertising agencies, IT companies, Newspapers
and magazines etc
If you have good command over English language and confidence that you
can understand the technology and simplify the technical language to a
user friendly one, then you can choose technical writing as your career.
TWIN (Technical Writers of India) and Society for Technical Communication
(STC), India are two online services that help Indian technical writers.
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