TC Myths

All technical communication myths in place.

Technical documentation is a writing intensive job

Technical writers must write alot.

Background

While technical writers write a lot, they also perform many other tasks.

Amity (Mythbusters: Technical Communication Edition) describes how that was her expectation before working as a tech writer but observed, “most technical communicators are lucky if they can spend even half of their time writing.”

Johnson (14 Widespread Myths about Technical Writing), on the other hand, claims “Most tech writers spend about 10% of their time writing.” He then provides a long list of other tasks that a technical writer also performs.

Anuradha (14 Technical Writing Misconceptions That You Should Know!) claims that “technical writing teams spend only a small minority of their time actually writing” because “most technical writers spend a majority of their time understanding the product under study.” Her point suggests that technical writers must have strong domain knowledge.

Counter myths

Survival tips

  • Know what you like to do and find the job that fits that best. If you like writing, there are writing-intensive positions that require a lot of writing. On the other hand, if you like tinkering with tech, there are more tinkering-intensive jobs out there, too.

Commentary

Technical writing covers a broad spectrum of jobs and responsibilities. Large companies tend to have more specialized technical-writing roles than smaller organizations, but it varies from case to case.

Mentions

References

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