Technically speaking

My journey in technical writing wasn’t smooth as I had assumed. At first, when I heard about technical writing I had the impression that it would be too technical work for me. I would be expected to know about hardware and programming languages. And, since I didn’t have any technical education, I felt that I was not suited for this field.

Fortunately, my curiosity for this field of writing didn’t stop and I started to explore. I started to read a lot about technical writing. I found that technical writing was all about explaining and making things simpler for people, and soon realized that I was very apt for this field.

I had to struggle when I began my career in technical writing.  First, because I was not confident about my writing and second, because I lacked basic technical knowledge . To have a certain amount of technical knowledge is of course an advantage. Why do I say that? Because when you start working, you should have some knowledge of how to use certain applications, like for example Word. This will help you to start your work smoothly.

When I went deep to understand technical writing, I found that it was much more then writing manuals or brochures. What I found was that, technical writing basically helps people like you, me and all others to understand complicated things. How do we do this? We do this is by explaining how a task can be done in simple language. We break complicated thinking, lay them out and then work around it by using simple words and sentences so that people understand them, irrespective of their level of technical knowledge. So when people read the writing material they understand the purpose of the product and how to use them.

What was at first a topic that I was curious about has now become a part of my daily life.  Through this field I've found a purpose in life, a purpose to simplify people's life around me. If you are looking for a career in technical writing, I would like you to consider two things. First, your ability to explain complex subject in simpler terms and second, polish your writing skills. Rest you'll learn on job.

I hope this throws more light on technical writing, because technical writing is more than a job.