What Is Tech Writing and What Happened to It?
“What is tech writing anyway? What do tech writers actually do?”
I get these two questions a lot.
Usually, I’ll wring my hands and say something dismissive like: “Oh, we just write super boring stuff, like user guides,” and just leave it at that.
And it’s not that I dislike talking about my job, or that people aren’t interested to hear more about technical writing. In fact, most people are very curious to know more about this mystical profession. But once I’ve given someone a quick overview on tech writing, I kind of dread their follow-up response, which is always something like:
“But you’re the first tech writer I’ve ever met — how come there aren’t more of you?”
And that particular question is a lot harder to unpack.
What Is Tech Writing Anyway?
Technical writing is the art of simplifying complex information into concise, digestible content.
Back in the late nineties, the expanding dot-com bubble caused somewhat of a tech writing boom. It used to be that every big R&D department had a documentation team. These teams were usually composed of business analysts and writers who would take whatever developers or engineers said, and turn it into user-friendly documentation.
Not everyone wants to be a writer (especially not the technical kind). In fact, most people straight up hate writing. So it made perfect sense that developers or analysts did not want to dive into the deep, bland pool of technical documentation. Only a few, tenacious wordsmiths could complete (and enjoy) the complex yet mundane tasks associated with technical writing. And those tech writers became an important asset for complex industries like engineering or software development.
Old-school tech writers were in charge of developing and maintaining industry standards, software requirements specifications, development guides, release notes, and more. The sole purpose of a tech writer was to bridge the gap between the techies and the non-techies. But then, a sudden technological shift drove a stake through the heart of tech writing. And it’s been struggling ever since.
Technological Intuition and the Jack-of-All-Trades
With the ubiquity of the Internet and the increasingly intuitive nature of technology, there just isn’t enough room for tech writing in the current digital landscape. Intuitive UIs coupled with our dwindling attention spans make it so that our grandmas don’t need to leaf through a 30-page manual to operate their tablets or phones. Every subsequent iPhone and iPad release make it so that the world doesn’t need to rely on tech writers’ skills anymore.
But that’s not the only reason tech writing slowly dwindled as a profession. Startups began pushing for multi-disciplinary employees who could juggle multiple roles effectively. In the world of “running lean,” developers would take care of API documentation, user guides, or release notes, which were previously core tasks of a software tech writer’s arsenal.
What’s worse, is that big companies badly wanted to go lean and minimize their costs. So they followed in the startups’ footsteps, expecting their devs and engineers to handle multiple tasks that were previously assigned to other departments.
This article puts it very succinctly:
“Initially, startups and smaller companies began engaging developers to create product documentation. Now, larger companies are adopting the same approach. In the past, when IT was booming, it made sense to hire separate writers and developers. Now, with IT stagnating and greater pressures on organizations to cut costs, the roles of developers, analysts, and technical writers are merging.”
From Full-Time to Contractors
In today’s tech landscape, professional tech writers primarily exist to serve extremely complex industries, like aeronautics, engineering, or biotech, or any industry which produces a lot of technical specifications. Often, most companies will have their engineers develop documents that would’ve previously been given to a tech writer. So nowadays, professional tech writers are often employed on a contractual basis.
The current tech writing cycle goes a little like this:
Tech writers will spend 3 to 6 months developing documentation for a company. Once the documentation is complete, one of the company’s permanent employees will be stuck updating and maintaining it.
The end.
But most companies no longer have the ridiculous amount of technical documentation they used to. So they no longer need to devote an entire department to people who specialize in synthesizing information — the demand is no longer there.
The Future of Tech Writing
We’ve all become good multitaskers — this isn’t a bad thing. With the ease of information and educational course websites like Coursera, Udemy, and whatever else is out there, it’s no surprise that specialisation is on its way out. We’re all slowly becoming jacks of all trades.
And don’t get me wrong: there are still plenty of full-time job opportunities for tech writers out there. So if you still want to become a tech writer, you certainly can. However, most tech writers I know have slowly transitioned out of their old roles and into new territory like content marketing or social media management for tech companies.
Tech writers are excellent analysts, editors, engineers, or coders. And just because there is no longer a specific need for someone to write requirements specifications all day, every day (which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy!), that doesn’t mean that there isn’t another way to apply those skills to this new reality.
The constant evolution of the tech landscape helps us move away from inefficient, obsolete ways of doing things—it improves our lives. And by learning new things and taking on new responsibilities, we learn to adapt. And that way, when the next sudden tech shift occurs, we’ll welcome it with open arms.
