Ways to improve your technical writing skills

By Catherine Heath on Writing docs from September 23, 2021

Nearly all products on the market will require a technical writer to create instructions for them and deliver to end users. That’s not to mention internal documentation, policies, processes, and training manuals.

Technical writing is not restricted to IT, software and engineering, and can be found in most fields and industries. As a result, there is no shortage of jobs for technical writers, but also no shortage of candidates.

Technical writers are typically continuous learners. It’s crucial to remain competitive in the industry, both for your own job security and career progression.

Are you curious about ways that you can improve your technical writing skills? We’ve got nine ways right here.

1. Get to know your audience

It sounds obvious but many technical writers can feel removed from the end users of the documentation. Get to know your audience so that you can improve the way you write for them, and have a better understanding of their needs.

We often make assumptions that we know who our audience is, without testing those assumptions against reality. It’s dangerous to assume too much, and much better to gather hard evidence about our users.

Get to know your users with interviews, documentation user testing, and soliciting feedback for your documentation. You can never know too much about your audience.

2. Read more

The best way to improve your writing is to read more. You don’t have to spend your spare time reading technical manuals, although this can be good too. You may even find a manual out there that you find inspiring and can be used as a standard against which to measure your own work.

Reading is still useful outside the technical field. When reading books, articles, or other publications, analyze the writing and think about what’s good, and then try to apply what you’ve learned to your own writing.

It’s even helpful to read bad writing, as this can teach you what to avoid in your own work.

3. Improve your communication

Many technical writers don’t simply write for a job. They will be in charge of creating all sorts of graphics and video, so you need to improve your overall ability to communicate in a variety of mediums.

Take the time to research other examples of technical communication and find what visuals work well in that context. Try to boil it down to specific elements that you can reproduce in your own communication.

You might need to learn some new tools to help you create your graphics and videos, such as Microsoft Visio, Adobe Photoshop, and Snagit.

4. Expand your networks

Being a technical writer is a very social job. You’ll often be required to obtain information from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and ask them to take time out of their busy day to help you. It’s much better if you build relationships with your coworkers ahead of the game, so when it comes to asking them for information they’ll be much more disposed to give you their time.

Stop by someone’s desk for a chat, or if you work remotely, set up occasional video calls with your coworkers to find out how their job is going. Join in with as many activities at work as you can so you can get to all the different people that work for your company.

5. Invest in an editor

No one wants to read technical writing that is riddled with errors and mistakes. No piece of writing reaches perfection on the first try, and it can be hard to see the forest for the trees when editing your own work. You get so used to reading what you have written that it’s easy to miss glaring errors that would be obvious to someone else.

If possible, invest in a professional editor to review your writing, and they will be able to take your work to the next level. Good editing isn’t just about proofreading. The right editor will be able to make your writing more readable and accessible to your target audience.

6. Take a course

Never stop learning. Even if you are already an accomplished technical writer, there’s no harm in expanding your knowledge with a professional course or certification. You may be able to learn a new technology that would be useful in the course of your work. It’s also a good thing to be able to include on your CV in case you want to look for a new job.

There are many good courses out there, and here a just a few:

7. Be curious

When honing your skills as a technical writer, it’s easy to learn the bare minimum you need to know to do your job and then leave it at that. If you want to be ahead of the curve, spend time learning about new technologies that may impact your work. That way, if your department head asks you what you think of technology X, you’ll be able to answer straight away and come across as a forward thinker as well.

Do your best to stay abreast of developments in the technical writing and technical communication field. You’ll be able to make recommendations to your team.

8. Go to conferences

Going to conferences is a great way to get exposed to new ideas and to meet other individuals in your industry. You’ll build your networks outside your organization and be able to discover more opportunities to learn.

Talks at conferences are typically given on a wide variety of topics and you’ll have the opportunity for Q&As with the speakers. Even if you already know about a topic, you might see it presented in a different way or portrayed in a new light.

The Write the Docs community hosts an amazing roster of conferences at a very affordable price. You may even be able to persuade your department to pay for your ticket.

9. Give a talk

Sometimes, the best way to learn something is to teach it to others. Think about an aspect of your work that you find interesting and find a way to turn it into a talk. You don’t have to give a talk at a conference – there are plenty of smaller meetups out there who are always looking for speakers.

The process of distilling what you know into an hour long talk will help you understand it better. You can also get feedback for your ideas from talk attendees which may help you to improve, or teach you something you didn’t know before.

Final remarks

There you have it – our top tips for technical writers looking to improve their skills and progress in their field. The key is never to stop learning, and always be aware of what you don’t know you don’t know.

Be humble and unafraid to ask others for help. You always have areas that you can improve and there’s no shame in admitting you aren’t perfect.