More Programmers Should Become Technical Writers
Have you ever searched an article online and you never found it or what you found was not articulate or comprehensive enough?
How did you feel, What did you do?
When you found the solution did you think of helping others, how did you do that?
Buffy Andrews once said: ‘Writers see the world differently. Every voice we hear, every face we see, every hand we touch could become story fabric’.
Technical writing is simply breaking down complex technology into words. I started writing a few years ago and what I was concerned with was explaining the mini-projects I had worked on in words and breaking down complex topics for others to understand.
Implication:
The implication that had on me was that I was able to ;
1. I could go back to my write up to gain more insight. For instance, I wrote on ‘ Gaining insight from Covid-19 dataset’. When I was going through my code, I could not remember some Analysis. I had to refer to my articles for clarity.
2. Refer more people to my articles. If someone wants an explanation on a topic I was familiar with, I will simply refer to the article. Work made easier.
The reason why more programmers should be Technical Writers is :
1. Technical writing is not for everyone. Recall that it is not just writing but writing technically. It requires a lot of thinking and understanding of concepts. Because you are a programmer who is used to critical thinking and explaining technical concepts, then you can start explaining in writing.
2. You will learn more about your scope because you will be forced to read wide even if you do not like to read. The thing is, if you write about stuff, you go back to them for good.
3. Popularity: it will be easier for people to know you through your writing than your code. Code is not as common as write up. You can post your articles on social media platforms and you never know how far you can go.
Challenges you might face include:
- Difficulty: If you think you have understood a concept? Try writing about it. The first article I wrote was really difficult. I was trying to explain different Math concepts and I found it difficult to embed math on medium. The best thing I could do was to take screenshots and crop each.
2. Time-consuming: Technical writing is time-consuming. I mean you can dwell on a subject for as long as it takes. You need to be extremely patient.
3. Zero audiences: not so many people will read your articles when you start writing. Keep in mind that some people will need that knowledge so just keep writing.
Conclusion
If you have ever thought of helping someone if you have thought of mentoring if you want others to find quicker solutions to technical problems at a finger’s snap then start writing today.
