Considering going into the lucrative field of technical writing? I don't blame you.
There's good money to be made in there.
Before jumping in, though, you might want to know exactly what you're going to get into.
Technical writers perform a wide variety of writing work, many of it dependent on the particular needs of the company you're working for.
What kind of materials will you end up producing? Here are a few common ones: Informational Materials Does the company need a technical FAQ? How about some articles explaining their products to various classifications of users? Do they need a reference manual for their sales team? Chances are, you'll be the one doing all of these informational materials, along with things like datasheets, application notes, white papers and more.
How-To Guides Anything that's designed to teach users (or even employees) about how to use a product will likely go through you.
These include quick start guides, full-length user manuals, instructional books and other documents that teach potential users how to work with the product.
Various Business Communications While a small segment of business communication will fall under your responsibilities (thank God), they are no less a vital part of your work.
These will include operating procedures, technical proposals, service-level agreements and any other document that will require some amount of technical knowledge about the products.
You will likely be working with the sales team as much as the technical division to accomplish these.
Knowing that, do you still want to get into technical writing? I suggest getting a technical-based writing software (Whitesmoke has one) to get familiarized with standards and conventions in this particular area.
There's good money to be made in there.
Before jumping in, though, you might want to know exactly what you're going to get into.
Technical writers perform a wide variety of writing work, many of it dependent on the particular needs of the company you're working for.
What kind of materials will you end up producing? Here are a few common ones: Informational Materials Does the company need a technical FAQ? How about some articles explaining their products to various classifications of users? Do they need a reference manual for their sales team? Chances are, you'll be the one doing all of these informational materials, along with things like datasheets, application notes, white papers and more.
How-To Guides Anything that's designed to teach users (or even employees) about how to use a product will likely go through you.
These include quick start guides, full-length user manuals, instructional books and other documents that teach potential users how to work with the product.
Various Business Communications While a small segment of business communication will fall under your responsibilities (thank God), they are no less a vital part of your work.
These will include operating procedures, technical proposals, service-level agreements and any other document that will require some amount of technical knowledge about the products.
You will likely be working with the sales team as much as the technical division to accomplish these.
Knowing that, do you still want to get into technical writing? I suggest getting a technical-based writing software (Whitesmoke has one) to get familiarized with standards and conventions in this particular area.