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In recent years I have attended a number of conferences here in Australia, talked with colleagues in the technical writing field and joined a few technical writing associations and one question that has often come up is What makes a good technical writer? | What I am seeking are the views and opinions of others who may be technical writers, employ writers or who use documents produced by technical writers as to what your views are on what a good technical writer should be and what you would expect from a good technical writer. |
The key driver behind this question is the growing demand for people to undertake technical writing projects. A demand seemingly created through Government legislation; a need for industry to become more efficient in work practices, not to mention the safety issues, and of course the growth in the IT industry. Talking about the IT industry, one of the biggest misconceptions I find is that when I mention to people that I am a technical writer, often the first response that one gets is "Oh, you work in computers!". It seems the modern conception is that the only thing technical in this world that we live in today are computers. We first need to dispel that belief as almost everything that we use today, be it our motor cars, Sound Systems, TV sets and the dreaded video/DVD recorders come with some sort of operating instructions, some much better than others. I have often heard comments about the instructions that comes with flat packed furniture which can sometimes bring households close to the divorce courts. Jokes aside all these documents require the efforts of a technical writer of some sorts. The key focus of DS Techwrite at this time is very much on heavy transport, mining and other manufacturing industries. We use computers as tools, we do not write about them so much not to say that we would not, or could not, write IT manuals if the opportunity arises. Not just to produce operating and maintenance instructions for manufactured equipment, we have also undertaken projects to develop work instructions and operation procedures for process manufacturing. If one was to take time to think about what the role of a technical writer is you might think along the lines that to be effective, a good technical writer must: - provide all relevant information to the end user of the documentation and the item(s) he or she is writing about;
- educate the end user of the equipment or the process worker in how things are to be done;
- ensure that any procedures and processes recorded in the documentation are accurate and safe;
- protect the interests of the manufacturer and/or employer;
- present the information in a clear and concise manner; and
- be able to work effectively and collaboratively with all other stakeholders to gather and prepare the documentation.
I would appreciate hearing back from anyone who may have valid views and comments to make about what does in fact make a good technical writer. Cheers for now Dennis |
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