Are you technical writing curious? Find opportunities in your current role

I entered the Technical Communications graduate certificate program at Seneca College with over a year of technical writing experience. I got this experience by creating a real opportunity at my (unrelated) job to see if it was for me. It's a common theme among my classmates and I think that any position offers a chance to try your hand at technical writing.

I was fortunate that my company was supportive, so I had a well-rounded introduction. Here's my experience with finding technical writing in the workplace.

The catalyst for it all

In December 2020, I started a new job in a patient-facing orthodontics office. At the same time, I started online professional development courses to help with my feeling of being stuck. This was the perfect starting point. The factors that set me on my path included:

• Taking courses in editing and technical writing to see if those were fields I wanted to pursue

• COVID restrictions, which meant that the Admin Trainer did not come into the office to train me

• An incredibly busy office, which meant that my coworker did not have much time to train me

• Unintuitive scheduling software and long, complex processes and procedures

How I started writing procedures

For the first three months, I wrote reference materials and documentation for the most complex procedures just for myself. A few written training documents were shared with me, but not many.

When I took on added responsibilities and wrote more documentation for myself, I reached out to the practice manager to pitch writing complete documentation materials. She gave me the go-ahead based on my initial written procedures. Then the Admin Trainer, who was in charge of the documents, and I defined the project:

• Rework all existing documentation

• Create a consistent template with branding

• Break long documents up into more focused, easier-to-read documents

• Write missing and new procedures as assigned

Additionally, after I gave my notice to go to school full-time, I wrote a series of introductory training documents for my position. I pinpointed the gaps in the training documentation, planned out the topics, and wrote about a dozen new training documents for the office manager to use for future training.

What I did without realising it was a technical writing skill

The project of reworking the existing documentation ended up being bigger than I expected. There was a lot of documentation that I didn't know about. This was partly because of my COVID-restricted onboarding, and partly because the documents were kept in a shared Google Drive which can be hard to manage.

There was a lot that I did to manage the project that I didn't know was part of a technical writer's skill set. These skills include:

• Taking an inventory of the existing documentation to find duplicates and list the audience of each document. I also used this inventory spreadsheet to track my progress and any notes from the Admin Trainer.

• Speaking with SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) to clarify the procedures I was writing and editing.

• Completing a gap analysis to figure out what important training materials were missing.

• Creating document templates.

• Choosing style guidelines and creating a style sheet.

What I would do differently next time

I have learned so much about technical writing since this experience, but there are two major things I would do differently.

Use topic-based writing

In topic-based writing, you write smaller chunks of information (topics) that you can then assemble into a document. Conceptual background information, tasks, and reference information are separate topics. It's the alternative to the familiar linear approach of long chapters or documents.

I didn't learn about topic-based writing and information types until later. Once I did, some of my struggles made much more sense. I struggled with writing background information within the steps of a task because it doesn't belong there!

Learning about this technical writing best practice made writing much easier.

Advocate for technical writing best practices

If I had come into this experience as a ~real~ technical writer, I would have advocated for:

• Quality writing and documentation standards

• The role of technical writers and why it's important

• A better way to organise and share information

What I took away from the experience

The most important takeaway was the confidence to pursue technical writing and I'm so happy I did!

The other important takeaway was understanding the importance of quality technical writing.

There were two reactions to my project. The first is likely the most common: it's important to have good documentation even if people aren't burning with desire to read it.

The second reaction was unexpected: excitement and gratitude. My coworkers knew they needed better documentation but didn't necessarily know what the solution was or what to ask for. Once I started the project of reworking and writing documentation, they were my biggest cheerleaders (shoutout to Precious and Anna!).

Watching my coworkers get excited about and directly benefit from the improved documentation was so gratifying. This part of the experience had a big influence on my choice to pursue technical writing further.

What you can do!

If you think you might like technical writing but don't know where to start, here are some ideas:

• Write out the instructions for the tasks you do at work

• Rewrite existing training materials for your job that you can improve

• Write a mini manual for a program or app that you're familiar with

If you think you might want to pursue technical writing but you're not sure if you'll like it—just start writing! That's the best way to explore and experience it.

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Thanks for reading!

I'm a new technical writer and I want to be part of the community. I'd love to hear your feedback and if you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn!