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Technical writing comes in many flavors ranging from how APIs are defined to how end users use software or hardware. Even though there are scores of different technology writing styles, there is even far a greater number of technology types in which to work. To be a good technical writer you need to go with the flow and get along with people in many different departments such as product and marketing management, quality assurance, project and program management, engineering, technical illustration, and of course the writers in your own group.
Sometimes a tech pubs group can be quite large with team leads, senior and junior writers, a technical illustrator, an editor, and your own tech pubs manager. Conversely, you can find yourself in a Lone Wolf position, where your engineering, QA, and marketing team depends solely upon you to produce the whole enchilada. In this case you want to have a good set of templates, style guides, web bookmarks, and a your writing samples library to refer to as you define and develop the best, concise information set for your intended audience. Having a network of other writers to reach out to discuss odd corner cases is a bonus. The title of a Technical Publication Writer can vary depending on the company. A common alternative is Information Developer. No matter how you cut it, the task at hand is the same. Take information described by engineers who built the software then transform it into the simplest, most direct form of consumable information. Engineers tend to see processes and data from a point of view inside the system. Even if you are writing for a technically astute audience, the writer needs to create a path of logical steps from an end user point of view. Think of a technical writer as someone who converts Enganese into English and you have at a great starting point for understanding this career.
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