Becoming a Technical writer: tips out of the numerous I learned.
Tags: beginners, html, javascript
Published: 2023-03-06 09:20:39

Becoming a writer has never been what I have ever thought of, or a niche I would think to pick.  This is going to be my first-ever article.
I graduated in 2021 from Bowen University after which I started writing academic works, for example, Term paper, school assignment, and final year project works. Once I write, I usually get good feedback from my clients and lots of praise, but I wanted to do something more.
Earlier this year I had vowed to pick up a niche to boost my productivity, I looked at various niches, and I decided that tech is what was next for me.
Initially, all I wanted to do is just learn some basic tech skills like web design, but then I heard of 'TECHNICAL WRITING' which I have no idea about, then I decided to read more about it and I found out it involves writing, EXCELLENT!!
I got my first certification as a technical writer from, aptlearn.io, a platform that I will highly recommend for a newbie. After learning, finishing, and getting certified, I proceed to Google Developers Technical writing which gave me another wide range of explanations for technical writing; I will love anyone who comes across this article to check it out.
**TECHNICAL WRITING**
Technical writing is the ability to break down complex technical information to specific targeted audiences in a very understandable manner.
Technical writing takes so many shapes ranging from proposals, user guides, reports, white papers, etc. to become an effective technical writer, one should possess the following attributes:
•	The ability to understand and break down complex technical information
•	Excellent communication and writing skills
•	Audience consideration
•	Strong attention to details
•	Lastly, adaptability to different styles and formats of **technical writing.**
 To become a technical writer, you must possess those attributes stated above or better still learn to develop those attributes as it will help you greatly in your technical writing journey.
Technical writing is a very broad and wide niche, there is a lot to discuss on it, but I will be touching on some important aspects of it in this article.
To carry out a good technical writing report for your client, there are certain steps to take out of the numerous, like I said I will just touch and write on few, listed below are some basic things to writing a good article for your clients:
a)	Know who your audiences are
b)	Focus mainly on your topic, avoid diversion
c)	Write clear and concise sentences
d)	Get someone to read your work
e)	Proofread before publishing. 
**Know who your audiences are**
The most important reason why you are writing the article is because of the end user (the audience), the more reason why you should carry out a background check before diving into writing.
The reason why a background check must be carried out is that there are two types of technical writing content, technical and non-technical content. Technical contents are usually written for some specific audience who are known to be experts on the same topic you are given to write about, the contents usually contain deep explanations and technical languages understood by only experts.
Non-technical writing on the other hand is usually written for the general audience in a simple and easy to read and understand as they are not familiar with some technical terms. In this type of content, everything is written in simple sentences for the audience to be able to comprehend.
Getting to know who your audiences are, is very crucial in the early stage of your article writing to avoid mixing technical for non-technical readers.
Focus mainly on the topic, avoid diversion
Once a company hires you to write for them on a particular topic, make sure you don't go beyond the scope because diversions pull apart results and unresolved questions.
You not focusing on the main topic or getting distracted by another piece of information will so much hinder the progress of your article which will in turn make the company lose faith in you.
**Write clear and concise sentences**
Writing clearly and in a concise manner is very much advisable because it shows your level of intelligence and smartness as a writer.
•	**Writing clearly**
When you write clearly, make sure to pick words that deliver your meaning. We have two types of English word meanings, denotative which is descriptive, and connotative which is known as the emotional impact of a word. 
Secondly, make sure to follow the words; these, those, and this with a noun. 
For example, "I will eat this food"
              “I do not like that guitar”
•	**Writing concisely**
It is very advisable to avoid unnecessary phrases and an overabundance of sentences.
Make sure to use straightforward and clear language
Avoid writing in the passive voice; write in the active voice
Eliminate extra nouns.

**Get someone to read your work**
Once you get to write to some extent, you can seek help from people around you to help you read what you have written. Getting someone to read your work will make it easier for you, you don’t necessarily need to go far, and you can ask your siblings or colleagues to read it to see if they can understand what you write. This particular step is just to find out the reaction of the user and see the gestures they make while reading your work so you could see where to work properly.
**Proofread before publishing. **
Proofreading before publishing your work is the crucial and final step of your writing stage because it helps to see your work error-free and also state your ideas clearly to your audiences as a professional. While proofreading your works, below are some tips to help:
•	Reading aloud: while you aloud to yourself, it helps you see the errors you have made and help to correct them perfectly. Reading aloud to yourself sends a message to your brain and detects any error you might have made.
•	**Use tools:** adding tools to your browsers or your word processing software like grammar-check, and spell check to correct errors. In my chrome browser, I have a Grammarly extension added to chrome and I have the Grammarly application downloaded on my laptop, grammarly has always been my choice since the university stage as it makes my work perfectly error-free.
•	**Take a break:** once you finish with your writing, pause, take a break, and come back to your work. This step aids you to see errors with fresh eyes, take a nap and go back to your work after you wake, your brain is refreshed and you can see the errors you have made in your work.
With the help of these tips, you have reduced the errors in your work by a big margin.
**Conclusion **
To the readers that find this article, written above is little out of the plenty I have learned, and I hope you grab out the little knowledge also you can proceed to the https://developers.google.com/tech-writing and https://aptlearn.io/ to get certified.
As I said earlier, this is my first article, critiques, and corrections are allowed. We can grow together by subscribing here to get more insight and also follow me on Twitter for more tips.(https://twitter.com/mofesubomi)