Skill Set
In addition to solid research, language, and writing skills, a technical writer may have skills in:
- Information design
- Information architecture
- Training material development
- Illustration/Graphic Design
- Website design and management
- User Interfaces
- Business Analysis
Technical writing may be on any subject that requires explanation to a particular audience. The material may be technical—or non-technical such as simple consumer information. A technical writer is not usually a subject matter expert (SME), but possesses and applies expertise to interview SMEs and conduct research necessary to produce accurate, comprehensive documents. Companies, governments, and other institutions typically hire technical writers not for expertise in a particular subject, but for expertise in technical writing, i.e., their ability to gather information and produce well-written documentation.
A good technical writer creates documentation that is accurate, complete, unambiguous, and as concise as possible. Technical writers create documentation in many forms, such as printed, web-based, or other electronic means.
Read more about this topic: Technical Writers
Famous quotes containing the words skill and/or set:
“However baby man may brag of his science and skill, and however much, in a flattering future, that science and skill may augment; yet for ever and for ever, to the crack of doom, the sea will insult and murder him, and pulverize the stateliest, stiffest frigate he can make.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Take two kids in competition for their parents’ love and attention. Add to that the envy that one child feels for the accomplishments of the other; the resentment that each child feels for the privileges of the other; the personal frustrations that they don’t dare let out on anyone else but a brother or sister, and it’s not hard to understand why in families across the land, the sibling relationship contains enough emotional dynamite to set off rounds of daily explosions.”
—Adele Faber (20th century)