Amitabh Sharma
Features Coordinator

Communication is key element in today's world; the last decade has shown a growing importance on the C word. So, where does technical writing come into the picture? Technical writing is one of the most important forms of documentation and means to communicate to the end-user, who is all important in the post-liberalisation, consumerist era.

Who is a technical communicator?
Technical communicators gather information of a technical nature and present it to those who need it. They work in every medium, including written words, illustrations, video, multimedia, online help systems and web sites. They work in almost every industry, including computing, biotech, manufacturing, aviation and medicine.

While writing user manuals, one needs to present the most important information upfront and first. And it is important to write in a nutshell. Also, one learns to work under deadlines and a journalism background helps.

Training
There are no specific courses in technical writing. Most of the tools are mastered on the job. In fact, the career draws people from diverse backgrounds. It is vital for the incumbent to do a lot of research on the functional area that he enters, be it banking, medicine or other areas.

Skills
How does one become a technical writer? People who want to enter the profession should demonstrate excellent communication skills, an aptitude for technical information, particularly that of the industry in which they plan to work (e.g., computers, medicine, aerospace). One needs to have writing skills. Apart from this, one needs to have knowledge of tools including Adobe Photoshop, Frame Maker, RoboHelp etc.

Growth
Technical writers can focus on working within specific domains like healthcare, finance, hardware, networking, semiconductors and can build up a wealth of experience in each of these areas and become valuable resources to their company.

Is there a demand?
The opportunities are aplenty. Demand for technical writers and writers with expertise in speciality areas, such as editing, usability, information design, is expected to increase because of the continuing expansion of scientific and technical information and the need to communicate it to others. Also, since there is a lot of outsourcing going on, there will always be scope.

It is a field as strongly linked to the software industry as Quality Assurance. The need for technical communicators will exist as long as the computer industry does.

The challenges
Technical writers need to clearly identify the result that is needed from the work they do. This involves understanding their audience and writing and can only come about when the writer takes pains to understand the same. As technical writers, it is a challenge to have their contribution measured as fully as our cost. Too often, 'documentation' is counted as overhead. The challenge lies in keeping it simple. Too often chances are that the writer can get mired in the jargon.

amitabh.sharma@gleanerjm.com