A gradual process I’m excited to see how it all plays out…
There are various career paths in Tech. That is why some people want to try out different paths until they are certain on which tech career path they want to pursue. A career path that, despite its ups and down, if you have a passion for it, you won’t quit even if it gets harder.
I didn’t just wake up one morning to decide to transition into tech. Schools are on strike, I love writing, Tech is evolving every day. I don’t think coding or being a developer is my career path; however I know Technical writing could be my career path.
WRITING…
The vast growth in tech has led to my transition to being a technical writer. Writing is an expression. It is another means of in-depth communication with myself and with people. I have always loved writing, but I never took it seriously. It was just an activity I did just to express myself in my phone notes.
It really felt so good and easy because I could express myself fully without being judged and feel heard and better afterward. I have really written a lot of brief articles in my phone notes, jottings from other articles and books I have read and I never got the ability or confidence to actually post any of my written works.
HOW IT ALL STARTED…
Over time, I have realized that being a philosophy student entails a great amount of research, reading, and writing, which made my transitioning quite easier.
In 2021, I finally had the confidence to post up one of my write-up on medium. The thought of me posting it wandered in my head for a very long time until I decided to post it up on medium. It wasn’t perfect; I felt I could do better, but the confidence of me actually posting it up was a relief. I got some motivation from my close friends and other people, and that was a push for me to continue.
The idea of being a technical writer came about when I got advice from a random person that read my article on medium. She asked me, “Have you ever thought of being a technical writer?”
I had an idea what it was, but I have actually never thought about it as a profession. From then on, I started my research (one of the important skills you need to actually be a good writer/technical writer), learned a lot about it and I figured that it is also a means of adding knowledge and a wide reach out to help people who are interested in Tech, breaking down complex technical products/pieces of information to aid easy learning and understanding.
The realization that for me to be able to write about technical products, I need to have a wide understanding of these technical products felt like a chore for me at first but as time goes on, reading and learning about these technical products, languages, has been good and has increased my knowledge on Tech itself. There is no way you can write/break complex terms about something you fully don’t understand.
PROGRESS TO MY GOAL…
I started this year with the goal of being an advanced technical writer. Honestly, it really hasn’t been easy, but I started my learning with the basics of programming languages such as: HTML, CSS & JAVASCRIPT, seeing as I need to understand better to be able to write about them in simpler terms. I have read and still reading various articles and books for further improvement on my writing skills and more information about Technical write-ups and information.
I went online on LinkedIn to research about tools needed to apply for a content and technical writing job and I did a survey and realized that most companies' requirements are the same. For example, most requirements include, Html, Microsoft office tools, Design tools (adobe, Visio,), etc. I got to write down these tools in my note and I started learning how to use them one after the other.
It is tasking, but I really want to do this. It is easy for me because I really love writing and I am inquisitive. Tech has made it easy for me to accept my inquisitive nature to always ask “why is this technical concepts this complex”, “How will it look like if I simplified this term and make it easier to read and understand for myself and other techies”, etc.
There are random days where I feel tired but the goal is to be consistent this year, and I started this already by joining the “Hashnode community” and it really has been helpful to improve my writing skills. I have read various people’s write-ups, guidelines. The plan is “consistency” and I am constantly building up to be better, like writing more, posting more at least once every week, reach out to other writers, until I have fully transitioned to being a Technical writer.
What I Want To Achieve…
The idea behind this is that most people run away from Tech due to the complex pieces of information and large words that are being used to classify some important things in Tech (I was one of them). Once people are able to read articles that are well outlined and broken down into simple and easy terms, it will aid more growth in tech, which will be my own way of helping others grasp all these pieces of information easily. I will say, “Tech is growing and I think we should all grow with it”…
Technical writing is classified as one of the non-coding career path in tech, but this is a “myth” because in all honestly along the way you will need to have an idea of the coding aspect of tech to be able to write about it.
I will use myself as an example, I learnt how to write Html and CSS and it was fun. It was more fun when I wrote about it and what I learnt for others to understand.
Conclusion
I wrote this as a motivation to those that are trying to transition into being a Technical writer and probably are not really interested in coding. So, instead of coding, why not help others with the simple understanding of coding and its complex terms?
I am not there yet but I am on a journey to prepare myself to attain a job as a “Technical Writer” one day. It is a process and a journey I am more than happy to embark on!!!
