What is a Technical Author?

Put simply, a Technical Writer (Often known as Technical Author in the UK) takes complex technical/scientific/industry-specific information and converts it into a language and/or format that the intended end-users will be able to use.

Even simpler? We translate from "Techy" to "User".

The list is almost endless, but common ones include:

• Printed instruction manuals.
• Printable pdf instruction manuals.
• On-line help (HTML, embedded, browser-based, context-sensitive).
• White papers.
• Design specifications.
• System manuals.
• Intranet pages.
• Web pages.
• Training materials.
• Interactive elearning materials.
• Process documents.
• Documentation standards and style guides.
• UI design.

Any answer to this would be subjective, but in my opinion a good Technical Writer is one that is trained, experienced and skilled in research, language and writing skills; not necessarily knowledgeable about the subject matter. Indeed, it can often be an advantage to not be familiar with the subject matter because they'll approach the subject as a learner and not make assumptions that an experienced user/developer might make.

One of the sayings that I like to hear from anyone, but especially Technical Writers is "I don't know the answer to that, but I can find out."

Regardless of your business or your place within that business, the advantages that a Technical Writer can bring to you include:

• Freeing up your and your team's time to do your main task.
• Improve your image with professional information design and delivery.
• Reduce support overheads by providing users with all the information they might need.