THREE Guiding Principles to Being a Successful Technical Writer

For those that aren't aware, I have been writing technical posts/articles for a very long time. My journey started back in the early 2010s and everything else is basically history for me. So yes, I have been doing this for quite some time. Since then, I have been working and collaborating with many different companies in order to write about their products, platforms and services. For a period of time, I also got the opportunity to build, manage and maintain my very own websites (during which I also earned my recognition as a featured technical writer/blogger).

With a recent decision to be more active on this platform, I saw an opportunity to reach out to the community as a whole, a chance for me to give something back. #payitforward if you want to call it that. Let's just say that I've benefitted from those recognitions in the past and it's high time that I start giving something back.

So, without giving away too much (because a single post won't be enough to cover everything), I want to distill my most important lessons as a technical writer/blogger into THREE guiding principles.

I truly believe that regardless of which platform you are using (i.e. Medium, this, or your own website), by following this THREE guiding principles closely, it will help you become a more successful technical writer.

1. SUBSTANCE

One of the very first things I learned through my own observations is that 90% of the time, most writers/bloggers don't bother to go deeper into a subject matter/topic. In many ways, when you read what they have published, you get this idea that they are simply trying to brush the surface so that they can quickly publish the article and move on to the next one. Chances are, for them, it's more about speed and quantity rather than the quality of what they are writing about. You can almost always tell if you were to follow their writing closely over time.

It's like the famous analogy about how a jar that has only a few coins in it will make the loudest noise, but is mostly empty on the inside. Or a product that looks really nice on the outside packaging, but doesn't have much once you open it up.

In all my years of writing and publishing technical articles online, I've learned that by going that extra mile, it always pays off in the long run. Most of my readers come back to my articles/websites because they know that there is always something more that they can take away from the learning experience.

Focus on quality, not quantity. One of the best ways to improving the substance of your writing is to include, stats, charts, screenshots, photos, illustrations where necessary. Sometimes, they help a lot more than words alone.

2. EASY TO UNDERSTAND.

This might seem like a redundant point to make, but trust me, it is something that is still lacking today. Over the years, I have observed others making the mistake of writing about a topic from their level of understanding and leaving others confused. In their minds, they were assuming that other readers would already have the same level of understanding or intellect, and that is a very bad assumption to make. It is sadly a very common mistake for technical writers to make, me included.

Being a really good technical writer/blogger is about knowing how to make your content easier to understand for readers at any level. As a writer/blogger, we need to approach the content without any biasness. Learn to put yourself in the shoes of someone that might be new or unfamiliar with the subject matter, will they be able to understand what you are writing? Or do you need to further break down the topic so that they can understand it better?

When readers/learners visit an article, the easier it is for them to understand the contents of the topic, the more likely they are to stick with it until the end, or even share it with their peers.

3. AUTHENTICITY.

The final and most important principle I can share is authenticity. I think this is probably one of my strongest areas as a technical writer/blogger. One of the key reasons why I have been able to build up a strong readership over and over again is because I always make it a point to be totally genuine about the topics that I'm writing about.

Gathering from the feedbacks of past readers and followers, one thing remains consistent throughout is that they often come back for more because they know that they can trust my words. They know that when I'm writing about a product or subject matter, I'm not making false claims.

Being a trustworthy technical writer/blogger is the most important and powerful weapon you can have. Out of the THREE guiding principles that I've shared, this is the most important one of all.

Closing Thoughts

As you begin to write about something today, I want to encourage you take a moment to pause and think about whether your next post fulfils those THREE guiding principles that I've shared above. If not, take the time to step back, refine your topic outlines before continuing with your draft.

As a bonus tip, I want you to also consider proofreading your own article before you publish. 90% of the time, my observations would tell me that most writers/bloggers don't bother to proofread their articles, hence there are plenty of coding errors, spelling mistakes, poor sentence structure, or even bad content structuring. This can be a real turnoff for most readers. Attention to detail matters more than you know.