Are technical writers “real” writers?
I started out believing that the only kind of “real” writer is a fiction writer. The kind that writes novels. So that’s what I tried to do while very young.
But if you look around, you’ll notice that most writing is non-fiction: newspapers, magazines, reports, corporate websites, advertisements, catalogs, brochures, manuals, and product packages.
I learned in college about a specialized kind of non-fiction writer called a technical writer. A technical writer—like a journalist—needs a different set of skills than a fiction writer.
For technical writing (as in journalism), you need the ability to:
- Research your subject.
- Interview subject matter experts.
- Translate technical jargon into plain language.
- Sift through piles of data and extract relevant details.
- Organize information.
- Write using simple, straightforward language.
- Be concise.
- Stay on topic.
- Edit for clarity.
- Understand your chosen industry.
For fiction writing, you need the ability to:
- Tell a compelling story from beginning to end.
- Write realistic dialogue.
- Paint a picture using words.
- Build excitement and tension.
- Understand human nature well enough to develop interesting characters.
You may have none of the abilities needed for fiction writing, but all of the abilities needed for technical writing. If so, you will be relieved to discover that technical writers are, in fact, real writers, and that you can make a decent living doing this kind of writing.
