Coding Career Spotlight: Technical Writer

At The Coding Space, we champion a coding education not just for the computational literacy it offers but for the broad range of complementary skills it fosters – and chief among these critical skills is writing & communication. Writers who understand programming are a perfect fit for the field of technical writing!

WHAT IS A TECHNICAL WRITER?

A technical writer is a professional writer who can communicate complex information in a clear, concise, readable way for a broad audience. Not all inventors or engineers or doctors are good communicators – so after they’ve developed their product, they need someone else to explain that product’s benefits to the general public, translating technical jargon into accessible language. Technical writers are hired to work on all manner of technical documentation, from instruction manuals to tutorials to press releases to web pages to reference guides.

WHAT SKILLS DO TECHNICAL WRITERS NEED?

Technical writers need excellent communication and writing skills, obviously, but they also need a certain level of expertise in technical fields, like engineering or computer science, in order to be able to translate from jargon to plain speech. Finally, technical writers should be great researchers and lifelong learners – skills that will allow them to fill in any content gaps in their knowledge of a specific subject.

HOW DOES CODING EXPERTISE HELP TECHNICAL WRITERS?

Not every technical writing job requires an understanding of code, but a growing number of them do! Software engineers and cryptocurrency experts frequently need help writing user interface text, software release notes, and more. For technical writers to stay competitive in an increasingly code-able world, they should have basic familiarity with the primary coding languages.

Keep an eye out in the coming weeks and months for more blogs in the Coding Career Spotlight series. You might be surprised to learn about all of the professional paths that open up with a coding education!