What Does a Technical Writer Do?

Technical writers, or tech writers, communicate to users by producing text, images, and videos to explain aspects of their companies’ products and services across industries. However, technical writers are much more than simply documentation people. They’re the unsung heroes of any organization. Their skills are essential to saving companies time and money as well-documented products mean fewer support tickets, ensured compliance with industry regulations, and enhanced productivity for employees and product users alike.

FedEX reported that after their tech writers reworked the company’s ground operations manual, employees found the information they needed 80% of the time, up from 53% with the previous manual version. This one change alone saved the company $400,000 a year. When companies invest in their tech writers, they save millions.

Looking to be a change maker in any company you join? Read on to discover what it takes to become a technical writer, what daily life looks like on a documentation team, and how AI is impacting technical writing teams.

What is a Technical Writer?

A technical writer is someone who creates technical documentation such as installation manuals, user guides, product sheets, technical reports, API documentation, and more. Their goal is to take complex product information and communicate it to internal and external users with clear descriptions and easy-to-follow instructions.

What Do Technical Writers Do?

Technical writers have two main tasks: performing subject matter research and managing the technical documentation lifecycle.

Most tech writers work with subject matter experts (SMEs), who have extensive knowledge in their respective fields, to create more accurate, detailed documentation. These experts may specialize in a product component, specific process, certain practices and regulations, or other topics. While SMEs are highly knowledgeable about their specialties, they may struggle to break down complex topics to be understood by a larger, non-technical audience. This is why their collaboration with technical writers is critical for the user experience.

Tech writers must take the relevant information from these expert insights and distill them into written documentation, images, and product diagrams. These writers work on all phases of the technical documentation workflow from planning to writing, editing, updating, and publishing. Moreover, they must ensure the information is available in various formats. That way, users can access files from any endpoint and then use the knowledge to solve their problems.

Common Tasks and Responsibilities of Technical Writers

Technical writers have varying responsibilities depending on the industry they are in and the company they work for.

• Performing detailed product and technical research: Tech writers must deeply understand the fields, concepts, user personas, and other information relevant to their company’s industry. This context informs their documentation, so their writing is more relevant and thorough.
• Engaging in cross-team communication: Depending on the project, writers may need to collaborate with developers, SMEs, customer support, product knowledge teams, or others to understand better how a product component works or what information users need for a positive experience.
• Planning and creating technical documentation: Before writing, they must determine the scope of the information needed. They also need to decide what format and file type would be best for each piece of documentation to facilitate user understanding. Then, they must prepare the content in their preferred authoring tool, like a CCMS, using their team’s agreed upon writing format (e.g. DITA, Docbook and other XML-based formats, as well as HTML, Markdown, YAML, etc.).
• Editing and proofreading content: Part of the content operations process is establishing who edits each piece of content. Proofreading and editing are critical steps in eliminating errors and making documentation clear, concise, and straightforward for users,
• Publishing documentation: The next challenge is for writers to gather content from various sources and in multiple formats and publish it to all appropriate endpoints (e.g. knowledge base, website, helpdesk, documentation portal, AI chatbot, etc.). Companies with large amounts of content will likely need a Content Delivery Platform (CDP). CDPs centralize scattered information so it is equally available across endpoints for a consistent user experience.
• Maintaining and updating content: Just because the content is live, doesn’t mean the work is done. When product updates are released, new components join the market, or processes shift and the documentation needs to reflect these changes. Tech writers must continually update content so it is always accurate and relevant, especially in software companies with rapid release cycles.
• Gathering user feedback: Once documentation is live, writers may receive user feedback. This may be in the form of ratings, direct comments, or dedicated content analytics. These insights illustrate how complete and easy-to-use their content is. As a result, this information helps writers update content for clarity, keep information fresh, and enhance the overall user experience.

What Skills are Needed to Become a Technical Writer?

First and foremost, a technical writer needs to understand their company’s field and product. In addition to this, there are several common skills any aspiring technical writer can work on to improve their craft.

• Writing: This may be obvious, but tech writers have to be able to write well! Specifically, they need to be able to distill complicated and technical ideas into simple, clear words. They also need to be able to adapt to the tone of voice and writing standards of their company. To help with this, many technical writers have degrees in language studies, communication, journalism, or related fields.
• Research: Performing extensive research is a core skill for writers who need to understand the full technical scope of a topic to pass the information on to users. They must know how to locate, evaluate, extract, and present key information from various sources.
• Collaboration and communication: A major part of technical writing is working with other teams, peers, and sometimes directly with users to consistently enhance one’s content. While the actual writing process may be a solo activity, it’s important to communicate and work well with others to optimize each step of the content operations.
• Knowledge of tools and technologies: Technical writers use a multitude of tools to produce documentation, from CCMSs and other writing tools to visual creation tools, grammar checkers and optimization tools, publication tools, and more. To succeed in technical writing, you will need to be proficient in using several tools. Additionally, with the rise of AI applications, the role of technical writers is shifting. Today, they must be comfortable navigating AI-powered tools and need to understand how business applications like AI chatbots will impact the way they produce content.

Training and Upskilling for Technical Writers

There are several ways that technical writers can receive training and level up their skills and industry knowledge.

Training in-house: Each company has a different tool stack, processes, and best practices to produce documentation. Naturally, with each new experience and as teams grow, writers will expand their skillsets and experience different ways of working.

Obtaining certifications: Different regions offer different training and certifications for tech writers looking to continue developing their skills. Look at organizations like Tekom Europe and the Society for Technical Communication to see which training programs they offer or support. Industry specific groups also exist (i.e. American Medical Writers Association) and offer dedicated programs.

Attending conferences: From networking to attending talks where industry leaders discuss emerging trends, conferences are a great way to expand knowledge and discover new methods. Not only do you improve your skills, but you meet industry peers whom you can turn to for advice in the future. There are many technical writer conferences around the world and online making this an accessible option for all.

The Rise of AI

We can’t talk about technical writers without talking about AI technology and its impact on the industry. Documentation teams need to use Generative AI (GenAI) to enhance their work rather than look at this emerging technology as a threat. This sentiment was echoed by Fluid Topics’ Head of Product Knowledge, Rémi Bove, who stated that “technical writers can significantly benefit from AI technology to improve their workflows, boost efficiency, and generate top-notch content.”

What kind of applications does this valuable technology have for tech writing teams?

• Optimizing content production: Technical writing teams can use AI to automate brainstorms, instantly summarize lengthy research notes, and deliver content outlines. By employing AI for the content preparation work, writers have more time to focus on creation and publication.
• Reducing translation costs: Companies can combine machine translation with Generative AI-enabled translation. This allows businesses to convert text into any language for little to no cost, the moment a user requests content in a specific language.
• Maintaining consistent content styles: Writers can now use GenAI applications to inspect tone, review text for plagiarism, and highlight opportunities to simplify text. These tools provide live recommendations during the editing process on how to improve a text’s grammar, rework sentences for clarity, and adjust wording for coherence across documentation.
• Engaging users with content: Teams are leveraging GenAI to help users find the information they need in a more engaging, efficient way. With advanced RAG-based applications, answer user questions with relevant, conversational replies, summarize core topics, provide sample answers to help desk tickets, and more.

Get Started on Your Technical Writing Journey

Curious to dig deeper into the field of technical writing and get started bringing immense value to your company? Take a look at these resources to learn more.

• Rethinking product information: The evolving role of tech writers (Source: tcworld)
• 5 Technical Documentation Trends to Shape Your 2025 Strategy (Source: Fluid Topics)
• I’d Rather Be Writing Podcast (Source: Tom Johnson)
• How ChatGPT Will Impact Technical Documentation (Source: Fluid Topics)

Technical Writer FAQs

What is a Technical Writer vs Content Writer?

Technical writers and content writers both do extensive research and use words and visuals to communicate about topics relevant to their company. However, the purpose of their writing is quite different.

Technical writers aim to explain everything a user could need to know about installing, using, and fixing a product and its components. Content writers, on the other hand, focus on speaking to consumers’ larger needs and then selling them on why and how that company’s product will solve their issues. Additionally, content writing tends to be more creative to help marketing teams draw in new potential customers. Meanwhile, technical writing is straightforward and objective, simply seeking to inform, not persuade.

What Qualifications are Needed to be a Technical Writer?

Different companies, countries, and industries may require different qualifications, but on average, there are a few standard credentials most technical writers have.

• Bachelor’s degree in English (or your country’s language), communications, journalism, or related fields: People interested in this career path may also consider studies in IT or an industry-specific subject (e.g. scientific studies for medical writers).
• Previous writing experience, whether academic or technical: About 2-3 years of experience in the field is needed for intermediate writers and 5+ years are needed for senior writers.
• Work or research experience in a specific field: Many tech writers start as specialists or researchers before moving to technical writing.