Am I eligible ?

Yes and No.

There has been enough debate about who can be a technical writer. But, my experience and study of this field has helped me deduce certain facts that might interest you.

• Technical Writing is an age old career stream. Technical Writing existed even before the advent of Information Technology. The documentation experts used to provide their services to various domains like manufacturing, oil and gas, and even aerospace. Those writers were industry experts in their respective technologies with sound writing and grammar skills.
• With Information Technology it became a different ball game altogether. Technical Writers began to generate information through various documentation mediums like Microsoft Word, Framemaker, RoboHelp, etc.
• And, with the invention of Internet, the information exploded online.

Throughout this journey of technical documentation, writers and their academic background also have been changing continuously.

Majority of the writers come from two educational streams:

• Technology – Engineering and Information Technology
• Writing – Arts and other communication fields

But, there are people who hail from different backgrounds and end up as technical writers. For example, one of my colleagues studied pharmacy in college. He started his career as a Medical Transcription writer and then stabilized his career in technical documentation.  

To succeed as a technical writer, you ought to be in love with technology. For example, it is of prime importance that you understand how gadgets work or how websites navigate. Another important aspect of technical documentation is how comfortable you are with English. For non-native English writers, it would be really necessary to take up a course in technical communication before plunging into this field. More about this in the next post.

At the end of the day, the choice still remains. If you think you enjoy the riddles of consistent, error-free and disciplined writing, technical documentation is the field for you.