What Is Technical Writing?

Last year, I graduated from a Licence¹ in Japanese. I didn't want to continue my education in that field because I couldn't see any nice future for me. In France, when you study languages, literature, history, fine arts, actually any field in arts and humanities, your only future is... teaching (or worst, jobless). But of course, nobody tells you that when you just graduated from high school. So, for my Master's degree, I decided to change the field and applied for Technical Communication.

I met the course director to get more information. I understood what it was about overall: computer, writing, website, coding, design... it was still wooly to me. However, I applied for this degree all the same, because it sounds to give me a better future, a future which can make me happier than Japanese studies. I was not only accepted to this Master's but also got my ticket for studying in UL (best things that happened to me during this nightmarish last year in Bachelor).

Back to Technical Writing! So, I discovered what it is, over here, in UL, via the module Principles of Professional and Technical Communication and Information Design. I actually didn't understand the title but knew I had to take it for my course. So, last semester, I learnt how to write properly, how to sum up long long long texts, how to design brochures. To tell you the truth, I sometimes got bored and thought Technical Writing was not for me. I found by chance this article by Tom Johnson in his blog, “Is technical writing boring?”: http://idratherbewriting.com/2007/02/13/is-technical-writing-boring. This made me smile because yes, this thinking occurred to me in the past. I even hadn't finished one of the assignments on purpose as I couldn't bear it anymore (and that one terribly wrecked my grade).

I met a friend a few months ago, and when he asked me what a technical writer does, as I was still confused with the right definition, I answered him I might write instructions for use in the future. To what he replied:

So, yes, when I was back to college for spring semester, I was a bit sceptical as I even chose two modules in Technical Writing. And last Thursday, when a friend of my guy asked me what I was doing in UL, to what I replied Technical Writing, and he exclaimed:

Today, I just finished all my lab sheets, and I was satisfied of my work. I realized all the modules in Technical Writing gave me a lot of confidence:

• blogging makes me realize I love writing. Unfortunately, I still make mistakes in English.

• lab sessions gave me new technical skills. I thought only “professionals” could build websites. I enjoyed working on Dreamweaver and Flash. The lab sheets are really well written, the beginner I was didn't find anything hard to follow.

• the team project is the opportunity for me to show myself that I can work in a team and even be the leader. I used to think I was only good at individual stuffs.

I don't know yet if I will become a technical writer in the future. However, I can say I like technical writing since I discovered the multiple fields it covers. I still don't have a good definition. Yes, a technical writer is not as popular as a novel writer, the job is not as exciting as what software specialists do. But it's only because it's not well-known enough. Most of people don't know what technical writing exactly is. But now, if someone asks me what technical writing is, I will tell them all these good experiences that happened to me, that I am a writer, that I am a website designer, that I am a project manager, and of course I'll tell them all of it with passion.

1. Licence: French Bachelor.