What Does the Technical Writer Have to Offer?
To understand what the technical writer can offer, you first need to appreciate what technical writing is and why it's required. Technical information, by its very nature, can be difficult to understand, especially for those who are not specialists in the technical subject or discipline concerned. For this reason, information needs to be communicated in a manner that will allow it to be understood quickly and clearly by the reader. This information can take many guises but will generally involve some form of documentation for users or maintainers of a system, application or device. Remember also that documentation can be paper-based or electronic.
The need for clarity and unambiguous writing becomes clear when you consider the liability that a company may be subject to if users are not supplied with clear instructions and appropriate warnings and cautions for the use of equipment. In today's litigous society, this is of increasing importance to many organisations., both public and private and is integral to product safety.
The technical writer is the link between those who understand the subject in detail, usually the designers and engineers who created it, and those who need to understand its function and maintenance requirements, usually users and maintainers. The technical writer is adept at highlighting and presenting relevant technical information in a way that makes it easy to understand and find. This can include, depending upon the intended readership, the removal of jargon, the application of consistent terminology, the sequencing of descriptions and instructions and the inclusion of relevant warnings or cautions.
In many ways, the technical writer helps bridge the gap between the user and the designer or engineer. While a designer's input to technical documentation is vital, it is not always wise for them to produce the documents. The technical writer ensures that the documentation is structured to allow the user to use both the product and the documentation effectively. Increasingly, electronic documentation is being produced in specialist forms such as SGML or XML. The use of these mark-up languages require knowledge of how they are applied, making the technical writer a skilled specialist in this field.
You can see that technical writing is actually a hybrid discipline. The technical writer has a range of skills to offer; from technical knowledge and written communication to specialist format and publishing experience. The technical writer can come from many different backgrounds. Some of the best technical writers have an engineering background of some sort with a firm grasp of language and how to effectively communicate in writing. Some have started with a specialism in language or literature and over time developed their technical expertise to open up a new range of professional writing opportunities. Whatever route a technical writer has taken to get to their profession, it's high time they got the recognition deserved of such a vital role.
Why not also take a look at:
What is Technical Writing?
Technical Communicators: What's in a Name?
Technical Writers and Liability - Don't Let Your Work be Your Downfall - Part 1 - Understanding Your Liability