Tech Biz Writing

The greater part of a technical writer’s work is concerned with the writing and production of manuals and handbooks. These ubiquitous documents take many forms, from the explanatory leaflet in five languages to multi-volume sets in huge ring-binders. They are vital to the efficient running of industry and the armed forces.

We first look at manuals and handbooks, or, to give them a generic title, Customer Support Documentation.

Reports, on the other hand, are often written at earlier stages in the production process. They may contain technical proposals or feasibility studies; progress reports on current developments; or post mortems on “what went wrong”. Reports are usually generated internally, either by the Technical Publications department of an organization, or by involved staff members acting in a lay capacity. These reports are often referred to as Product Documentation.

We then look at the problems likely to be encountered by the writer of technical articles. Markets for this work, though quite extensive these days, are neither lucrative nor easy to break into, and are best approached by the specialist journalist or very experienced professional.

A field which sometimes escapes the net of more orthodox technical authorship is that of technical sales literature. If money is your priority, this is the field to tackle. Often presented in a glossy format and written in snappy language bristling with buzz words, these documents are mainly produced by technical copywriters employed by a bureau or advertising agency. Nevertheless, an occasional job of this type may fall to the technical author’s lot and a brief survey is worth its place here.

There follows a consideration of the expanding field of technical training material — the “programmed learning package”, training film or presentation, and the educational textbook. The growth of Government funding in many countries, has led to a boom in this type of documentation, both in print form and online. It’s a very good field to be a part of, but you must have expertise in your subject.

The final part of this module covers that most growing of growth areas, software documentation and web content. Apart from the large number of “Idiot’s Guides”, largely written, it seems, by American comedians, there’s a huge demand from industry for people who can develop documentation in this essential field. When a system fails, it’s usually the software that lets the side down. A lucrative area for technical authors to specialize in.

Similarly, web content is much in demand, though spiraling downwards in value terms. A great deal of this is indistinguishable from journalism or promotional copywriting. But if it has a technical content, it’s fair game for the tech writer … and it can be well paid, most often when performed for major companies or Government departments.

Next up: 5. Manuals and Handbooks.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 17th, 2006 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Technical Writing, Publishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.