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Writer's pictureKim Melton

What Is Technical Writing?

Updated: Dec 1, 2023


A black man writing on a note pad in front of a computer with a cup of coffee sitting on the desk next to him.

When you tell people that you are a technical writer, you're always met with a question: what is technical writing? It’s a fair question, but if you had to guess at what it is, you'd likely guess correctly - technical writing is writing about complex, sophisticated, and highly technical topics.


Historically, technical writing has typically referred to user manuals, policy documents, software guides, etc; however, most recently, that type of collateral has taken a back seat to research papers, ebooks, articles/blogs, and more. Moreover, in today’s era of varied technical mediums, “technical writing,” would be more appropriately termed “technical content generation,” encompassing everything from articles to videos to podcasts.


As we face ever-evolving technology and advancements in research coupled with global access to information, technical writers are needed more than ever before. Businesses need to bridge the gap between complex concepts and their end users. Yet, end users pose a unique challenge for many businesses because there is almost always more than one category of end user.


Audiences

There are typically three end users/audiences:

  1. The subject matter experts (SME)

  2. The people who know just enough to be dangerous

  3. The rest of us.

Each of these audiences has decidedly different needs regarding the technical information they want, and as a result, generating one piece of content is typically not enough for any given topic.


Subject Matter Expert (SME): The subject matter experts generally need and want all the information. These are the ones who will not only glance at your sources, but they will go through and read them thoroughly. They will vet the sources you used and the information you convey with a razor-sharp eye, looking for new information or potential gaps in your research. These are people who want the data, the statistical analysis, and complex interpretations of both. If a subject matter expert is consuming your technical content, they are not only looking for information, but you can rest assured that your content is being put through a minefield of validation.


The ones who know just enough to be dangerous: Now, these people aren’t actually dangerous so to speak (unless they’re in over their heads, dealing with things like surgery or radioactive materials), but these are the well-read individuals who can speak knowledgeably to the technical topic. If the SME is the scientist doing the research, these people are the sales team selling the product the technical content pertains to. They need to be knowledgeable about the topic, the application, and the industry, but they aren't working on the product development or research side of things.


Everyone else: For most topics, this is you and me. We’re the ones who might be interested in the topic and know a little, or we might just be someone with no knowledge of the topic who got sucked in by clickbait. No judgment - it happens to all of us.


When you consider all three of these audiences, one thing becomes abundantly clear: you’re going to need more than one type of content. Your SME is going to need collateral that includes a description of your process and the resulting numbers (often some of the raw data itself), pictures, your conclusions, and an explanation of how you got to your conclusions.


The "dangerous" ones are going to need pictures, descriptions, conclusions, and applications. The rest of us are going to need the overarching theme regarding why the topic matters along with some interesting statistics that we can use to impress people at parties - important things like wild dogs have an 80% success rate during a hunt 1, or, "recycling 10 plastic bottles saves enough energy to power a laptop for more than 25 hours."2


Given the varying needs between each of these audiences, one thing is obvious - a single piece of content won’t be sufficient. Moreover, often one type of content is also not sufficient. Subject matter experts need research papers and presentations, sales teams need presentations and articles, the rest of us need articles, podcasts, and videos.

So this is where your technical content creator becomes critical. To generate all this content, you need a team or individual who can work closely with your subject matter experts to understand the topic, gather the facts, grasp the relevance of the research, and communicate that to the audiences via the appropriate mediums.


Know anyone who can do that? We do.


If you’re wondering whether or not you can use AI to do this, you’ll want to read this article.


In essence, technical writing and technical content generation is the unsung hero of the technological age, facilitating effective communication between experts and end users. As industries continue to evolve, the demand for skilled technical writers will persist, making it a field that combines both art and science in the pursuit of clarity and understanding.


Sources



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