Technical Writer, But Not?
July 24, 2019 6:18 AM Subscribe
Considering a career shift. I've had several people encourage me to try my hand at being a technical writer, and everything about the job sounds like it might be a fit - except for what technical writers write about. Is there anything similar that's not tech-based?
Here's what I feel does fit about the role and what I would like about it:
* I can write. I've had experience writing freelance for a variety of audiences and markets and can provide clips.
* I like the idea of researching new and different things for each project, and then explaining them to an audience; in fact, I had an 8-year freelance gig doing precisely that.
* The average income level I see for technical writers is pretty much exactly what I need. I realize I'd be on the lower end of things starting out, but the average income level I've researched is higher than what I'm currently making, and my expenses will drop considerably in 10 months (I will be COMPLETELY DEBT FREE for the first time since I was seventeen years old).
My concerns are simply and solely that technical writers write about, well, technical stuff, and I have zero experience in tech. I didn't get into programming as a kid, I am not all that jazzed about engineering, my interest in science is more in the poetic and emotional than it is in the fact-based (i.e., I am emotionally excited by the fact that man went to the moon, but don't have the added curiosity to delve into the "how did we do it" kind of questions). I could probably get into science-for-a-layman kind of stuff, but I think the learning curve to competently do in-depth technical material is a bit too intimidating.
So...is there something that's like a technical writer but doesn't write about tech? Please advise.
Here's what I feel does fit about the role and what I would like about it:
* I can write. I've had experience writing freelance for a variety of audiences and markets and can provide clips.
* I like the idea of researching new and different things for each project, and then explaining them to an audience; in fact, I had an 8-year freelance gig doing precisely that.
* The average income level I see for technical writers is pretty much exactly what I need. I realize I'd be on the lower end of things starting out, but the average income level I've researched is higher than what I'm currently making, and my expenses will drop considerably in 10 months (I will be COMPLETELY DEBT FREE for the first time since I was seventeen years old).
My concerns are simply and solely that technical writers write about, well, technical stuff, and I have zero experience in tech. I didn't get into programming as a kid, I am not all that jazzed about engineering, my interest in science is more in the poetic and emotional than it is in the fact-based (i.e., I am emotionally excited by the fact that man went to the moon, but don't have the added curiosity to delve into the "how did we do it" kind of questions). I could probably get into science-for-a-layman kind of stuff, but I think the learning curve to competently do in-depth technical material is a bit too intimidating.
So...is there something that's like a technical writer but doesn't write about tech? Please advise.
Agree. I have written documentation in a few fields now and the concepts are the same no matter what you're writing about. Do you like minute detail? Do you enjoy learning about processes? Then tech writing may be for you!
posted by wellred at 6:32 AM on July 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by wellred at 6:32 AM on July 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
Grant writing is a similar beast, although I can't tell you how the pay compares to technical writing. Since it's the non-profit sector, it may be less. There are also different types of grants. Research and government grant applications tend to be much more specialized/technical than applying to private foundations, which can have a much more narrative/storytelling focus.
posted by kimdog at 6:32 AM on July 24, 2019
posted by kimdog at 6:32 AM on July 24, 2019
Even if you are writing about technology, it's actually a benefit to not be completely immersed in the subject, because you have the ability to see it as an outsider. This can make it easier to figure out what is important to be detailed or explained.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:36 AM on July 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:36 AM on July 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
I’m volunteering on a technical writing project where zero experience with tech is exactly what is needed. An ability to research, flag potential additional areas of interest/concern without getting excited and going into a rabbit hole.
There is this myth of the tech employee who loves and lives and breathes tech and for most people in tech I have met, their job is like most other people’s hobs. It’s a thing they exchange for dollars. They might have an area of tech that they especially love but their job is a job. A very few people get to do the thing they love all the time. A slightly larger number get to really enjoy most of what they do for money. Many have a tech hobby outside of work hours that they might hope will help them transition them into a job that pays them to do what what we really love. But most people are earning money solving problems that someone else needs solved.
Just like when I went to an office to be a receptionist I was not personally thrilled to be setting schedules but I did really love optimizing a form. I do all the crap I don’t love because they pay me and I also happen to luckily really like a portion of the tasks.
My purpose for this volunteer work I’m doing is to gain knowledge and exposure (ha! this is terrible!) to assist me in finding my next job. If you’re interested in seeing the guts of this project I’d be happy to sit down and show you what we have so far. This is NOT an offer for you to work on the project because it is unpaid. But getting an up close view of different kinds of technical writing will be helpful for you, I think. There are professional technical writers on this project and I bet they would be able to take five or ten minutes to talk to you about other topics they’ve covered. All of the tech writers have zero experience with this tech.
posted by bilabial at 8:05 AM on July 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
There is this myth of the tech employee who loves and lives and breathes tech and for most people in tech I have met, their job is like most other people’s hobs. It’s a thing they exchange for dollars. They might have an area of tech that they especially love but their job is a job. A very few people get to do the thing they love all the time. A slightly larger number get to really enjoy most of what they do for money. Many have a tech hobby outside of work hours that they might hope will help them transition them into a job that pays them to do what what we really love. But most people are earning money solving problems that someone else needs solved.
Just like when I went to an office to be a receptionist I was not personally thrilled to be setting schedules but I did really love optimizing a form. I do all the crap I don’t love because they pay me and I also happen to luckily really like a portion of the tasks.
My purpose for this volunteer work I’m doing is to gain knowledge and exposure (ha! this is terrible!) to assist me in finding my next job. If you’re interested in seeing the guts of this project I’d be happy to sit down and show you what we have so far. This is NOT an offer for you to work on the project because it is unpaid. But getting an up close view of different kinds of technical writing will be helpful for you, I think. There are professional technical writers on this project and I bet they would be able to take five or ten minutes to talk to you about other topics they’ve covered. All of the tech writers have zero experience with this tech.
posted by bilabial at 8:05 AM on July 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I'm a medical technical writer. There's not much "technical" about it, actually; I'm directing people to attach pads to a patient's bare chest, and to learn about different parts of the heart, and to be careful when inserting a bronchial tube that it doesn't go into the stomach. It doesn't seem very technical to me.
posted by Melismata at 8:10 AM on July 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 8:10 AM on July 24, 2019 [5 favorites]
I agree with fiercecupcake that an outsider’s perspective is good as you many times (not always) want to be able to convey a technical or scientific concept to a layman audience.
I also just want to caution you to make sure you understand the amount you will be writing vs editing for any particular position. I’m an engineer and write all my own documents. The tech writers basically review it, make sure formatting is correct, make sure acronyms are defined, etc. They don’t do much writing. This isn’t true for all positions but it is for some so I wanted to point it out.
posted by sillysally at 10:46 AM on July 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
I also just want to caution you to make sure you understand the amount you will be writing vs editing for any particular position. I’m an engineer and write all my own documents. The tech writers basically review it, make sure formatting is correct, make sure acronyms are defined, etc. They don’t do much writing. This isn’t true for all positions but it is for some so I wanted to point it out.
posted by sillysally at 10:46 AM on July 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
If you're writing FOR people who aren't technical, then your non-technical background is a strength. You're less likely to accidentally assume people know things they don't.
posted by amtho at 11:03 AM on July 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by amtho at 11:03 AM on July 24, 2019 [3 favorites]
I immediately thought of grant writing too, which can be a specialty role within development in a large organization or one of several hats worn in a smaller shop. It involves research, project management, storytelling and relationship-building (internal and external), as well as infuriating character limits that force very succinct writing. (Sometimes that's a fun challenge and other times you just want to cry...) It's very gratifying work and a nice role in nonprofit/fundraising for folks who don't want to be out schmoozing all the time.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 4:07 PM on July 24, 2019
posted by Sweetie Darling at 4:07 PM on July 24, 2019
Alternately you can consider copy writing. Sales or just content.
posted by pyro979 at 5:19 PM on July 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by pyro979 at 5:19 PM on July 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
A good friend is in health communication. Her audience is patients, not clinicians, and the goal is expressing complicated research (e.g. "what do we now know about living well with diabetes?") in incredibly plain language, since not all patients have a high reading level. The job seems to require the same writing skills as my job in software documentation -- reader empathy and obsessive interest in clarity, mostly.
She works for an agency that gets grant money from a lot of different places, and each time I talk to her she's learning about a new condition or patient population. I don't know how common that is for people in her field, but it sounds like a situation that would suit you.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:07 AM on July 25, 2019
She works for an agency that gets grant money from a lot of different places, and each time I talk to her she's learning about a new condition or patient population. I don't know how common that is for people in her field, but it sounds like a situation that would suit you.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:07 AM on July 25, 2019
I was a technical editor, which meant I made sure knitting patterns and crossword puzzles actually worked. All kinds of things get lumped under "tech."
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:14 PM on July 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:14 PM on July 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
For example agriculture, forestry, and lots of govt work requires technical writing but those are probably not things most people think of when we speak abstractly of technology.
My take is there is nothing at all odd about a technical writer who doesn’t do much work in ‘technology’.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:26 AM on July 24, 2019 [8 favorites]