Key Takeaways
Have you ever read a set of instructions that were so clear and concise that you had no trouble following them? That's the goal of good technical writing- to make complex information easy to understand.
During the writing process, technical writers must understand that their audience will likely have little or no prior knowledge about the subject matter. However, technical writers act as subject matter experts.
So if you enjoy a deep dive into a subject, technical writing may be a perfect career for you!
Technical Writer Income Potential
The income potential is scary good: "Salary scales for Technical Writers range from $79,000-$106,000 in the greater Seattle area (Glassdoor). Employment trends for Technical Writers are expected to grow by 10% over the next 8 years." –US Dept. of Labor
If you're considering technical writing as a career, you may wonder exactly what you'll be doing. Because technical writing encompasses such a diverse subject area, the writing subject can vary widely!
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What is Technical Writing?
First, let's define technical writing and what a technical writer does for a living.
Simplify the Complex
Technical content writing is all about "simplifying the complex." Nearly every business, non-profit, or educational endeavor needs writers whose writing style can make complex concepts easier to understand. This is not creative writing as much as expository or persuasive writing.
But a technical writing job description is not always about a "boring" subject, like writing user manuals, instruction manuals, or software documentation. There are many other types of technical writing content, such as our 11 examples below.
Why Read Examples of Technical Writing?
After reading our examples, you'll have a better idea of
- Your technical writing style
- If a technical writing career may be right for you
- What subjects a technical writer may work on
You'll also see how technical communication works in general. The field of technical communication includes video communication, models, diagrams, etc. However, many forms of technical communications start off with technical writing.
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Examples of Flawless Technical Writing
In this blog post, we will look at some examples of flawless technical writing from various industries. However, they all share one thing in common- they communicate complex information clearly and concisely.
1. Proposals
Business technical content often involves understanding another subject well. For example, to write business proposals, you need to understand how business works.
However, no worries, you don't need your MBA! But you do need some level of experience to get hired by a company that needs your technical writing services.
What is Proposal Writing?
As a business proposal technical writer, you make an offer for a business to meet the needs or product demands of another business. If you know how to write enticing proposals helping businesses put their best foot forward, you're hired!
For technical writing examples of proposals, check out a template, a proposal how-to, or a how-to with examples. For a real example of a business proposal, check out this IBM proposal template for bringing in business.
Or look at the next technical writing example, a specific type of proposal; the grant.
2. Grant Writing
Grant writers research, draft, and submit proposals that help organizations or individuals receive grant funding.
Grants contain exact specifications to qualify for funds. Organizations need technical writers to craft a grant proposal that aligns with the grant's specifications.
Your grant technical writing helps non-profits or businesses secure funding from public and private grants!
Get Started with Grant Writing
To jump into this technical writing field, start with a Grant Writing Basics course such as this one offered at SUNY Broome in New York. And read through a sample Professional Proposal from Prevention Plus Wellness.
One thing about being a technical writer of grants is that there are millions of technical writing examples online to help you understand how grant proposals work. One technical writing tool that can help tremendously in grant writing is ordering variable templates, so you can plug and play pretty quickly.
Grant writing and proposals put an organization's best foot forward. However, another kind of technical writing, the contract, seals the deal!
3. Contracts
Writing contracts may require knowledge of legal documents or previous work experience in:
- Managing complex processes
- Writing organizational system guides
- Writing legal disclaimers
- Making strategic planning initiatives
- Marketing and research
- Translating documentation into procedures for a management team
Get Started with Contract Writing
Check out this How-to Write Contracts with technical writing examples of well-written contracts to see how it's done!
You can find technical writing work in business writing contracts or focusing on other business issues such as stock performance papers, annual reports, or financial planning.
Technical writing examples of business contracts are all over the internet. However, if you use templates without legal knowledge, learn what makes an airtight contract before offering your services. Writing contracts can be a complex process!
Wherever you have an area of expertise in business, you can likely find a tech writer job!
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4. White Papers
White papers are like research papers written by government agencies or other authoritative agencies that inform or act as a reference to others.
These are "deeply researched report(s) on a specific topic that presents a solution to a problem within an industry, usually written by a company to illustrate their knowledge and expertise through facts and evidence." (1)
White Paper Examples
Read through these flawless examples for stand-out technical writing examples of white papers!
- "A Detailed Study of Patients with Long-Haul COVID: An Analysis of Private Healthcare Claims"
- "The Role of AI Technology in Pandemic Response and Preparedness: Recommended Investments and Initiatives"
White papers are not marketing, but they combine extensive experience, research summaries, multiple documents of data, or experiential knowledge that a company or government entity possesses.
As tech writers go, writing technical content for white papers is research intensive.
Become a White Paper Writer
For more information on becoming a white paper technical piece writer, check out this technical document, "How to Land White Paper Writing Jobs with Huge Pay" and find your way into the white paper writing scene!
5. Marketing
Technical marketing writing is worth a look at as a career! This colossal field makes it easy to find technical writing examples, as they are everywhere!
Check out these examples of technical writing for marketing:
- Copy/Content writing: "Managing Member Responsibilities and Business Considerations."
- Blogging: See the blog "How to Get Into Technical Writing With a Certificate."
- Website Content: User-friendly web pages explaining services, purpose, products, about, etc. Check out Medicare Coverage Options explaining complex concepts in an easily-understood way with images, charts, and simple short text sections to keep readers engaged and learning.
- FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions): often part of a website or landing page. See a FAQ written for a body shop.
- Press releases: Letting the public know crucial information such as the Unmudl Blog. Also, check out How to Write a Press Release with Examples from CBS News.
- Online Course: Marketing web courses to others through course descriptions and explanations. See the Unmudl course search page with multiple online on-demand courses available. Clicking on the course and then the drop-down menus show the descriptions for each class.
Use Persuasive Language and Proven Sales Techniques
Writing technical content for a marketing firm allows you to write on various subjects using in-depth research and technical information combined with simple persuasive language to encourage others to buy a product or service.
Technical marketing writing means you'll need to use your skills to combine difficult-to-understand concepts with sales protocol tools such as AIDA or PAS. As a technical writer in marketing, you need to explain something complex while bringing in clients.
For a technical writing example that contains complicated digital marketing concepts, check out HubSpot's Content Marketing Workbook and learn a bit more about technical writing for digital marketing!
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6. Knowledge Base Articles
Knowledge bases compete for top spots online for complex subjects such as law and medicine. Think, WebMD vs Mayo Clinic! For a shot at writing for a knowledge base, you'll likely need a senior technical writer designation.
For example, if you are a legal subject matter expert and senior technical writer, you might write for a legal knowledge base like NOLO. Or, with expert-level medical knowledge, you could pen blogs for a network of doctors, such as the Mayo Clinic!
Check out these top-notch senior technical marketing writing examples:
- "Adult ADHD and PTSD: What’s the Link?" from WebMD
- "Member-Managed LLCs Versus Manager-Managed LLCs" from NOLO
As a senior technical writer, you may need additional technical writing tools such as memberships to professional organizations or access to legal case databases.
7. Insurance Policy Documents
Technical documents like policies require writing skills with attention to detail. This is not creative writing but rather an explanation of the technical aspects of a policy, along with a detailed analysis of how the policy applies to the consumer.
Policy writing lays out a legally binding document with a plan's purpose, definitions, and responsibilities. Policy document language is a concise and careful technical documentation of the legal aspects of a policy.
To understand each company's documentation structure, you'll need to learn the legal aspects of the insurance industry you write for, whether it's:
- Auto
- Health
- Insurance agencies
- Government-funded insurance such as health.gov
- Umbrella
- Life
A company offering insurance needs a good technical writer to explain the standard operating procedures of insurance at their company. Check out this sample Allstate policy and see how complex these policy documents can become!
8. Policies and Procedure Documentation
Writing policies is not only done at insurance companies. You can also write technical documentation of company policies or employee handbooks complete with their standard operating procedures.
Check out the Guide to Writing Policy Procedure Documents for a well-done example of this type of technical document.
9. Product Writing
Writing about a product is another type of business writing that involves teaching clients or target audience customers about a product.
You explain product details to the target audience with user-friendly language and various tools, including diagrams, graphs, images, or videos.
You may create:
- User manual and instructions
- Installation guides
- Troubleshooting Guides
- Warning Labels for medications, toys, DIY projects, and more
- Product packaging for consumer electronics or other items
- Release notes
For an example of one of the most accessible and comprehensive user manuals, check out the iPhone User Guide. Their user manual takes into account their target audience.
According to US 2022 statistics, iPhone is most popular among 16 and 24-year-olds. Checking out this user guide, it's easy to see the target market they aimed for and hit. (2)
And speaking of business growth, businesses just starting out need business plans!
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10. Business Plans
A business plan is where almost every business starts, especially those wanting to go anywhere!
If you have writing skills and a bit of business knowledge or love to research and learn, you can write business plans as a career!
To bone up on business basics, take an online on-demand course such as Applied Business Foundations and learn how to determine customer needs, analyze market research data, inform operational decisions or activities, and estimate costs or sales terms.
Knowing business basics can help you write from a base of knowledge that other writers may not possess. However, you may already possess enough business knowledge from your career thus far!
What is a Business Plan?
Writing a business plan is not difficult when you understand the"concepts behind the points.
It is "both a marketing document and a plan for action. While different types of business plans will have different goals and audiences, key "elements of the plan will be the same." (3)
A business plan includes many sections describing your business and product or service description, market research and analysis, competition, business advantages, customer research, and marketing strategies.
To write one well, you need deep organizational knowledge and business sense. It also includes business team members, legal structure, and financial plans.
However, the part that trips many businesses up is the executive summary.
The executive summary "provides an overview of the business plan, target market, and purpose."
For an executive summary, you need someone who can see the individual parts of the entire business plan and put them all into one grand statement that simplifies the you're plan.
As a technical writer, you're naturally good at taking a large amount of complex data and condensing it into simple terms.
Peruse these Sample Business Plan examples of technical writing and see if this type of technical writing is for you!
You can start out by offering your services on Upwork and go from there.
And if you find repeat visits from your business plan clients; transition into writing their annual reports!
11. Training Materials
Whether writing orientation manuals for new employees or technical manufacturing guidelines for a division, training course materials bring knowledge to the members of a group.
- You might work for a college, training professors in proper classroom protocols or writing service descriptions for the janitorial labor force.
- Or you could write the copy for online classes that help students learn the skills they need to succeed in the job force.
- Perhaps you would find work with your state writing user manuals such as the North Carolina Driver's User Manual.
- Documenting software systems and APIs is the way to go if you understand the tech world.
Explain the How-To
Training course materials and user manuals explain how a system works to the uninitiated.
Website help centers are a good example of an online user manual for assisting customers with software products.
And if you have technical skills in computer science, you can explain all the techy goodness to the rest of us as a computer systems technical writer!
Software or API Technical Writer
With the advent of computers in the 40's, the need for complex software explanations started exploding and never stopped!
Writing about software developers' latest apps and software API systems helps others get on board with how to grow computer and software skills or teaches others within your industry how your new development works.
API Documentation
"API documentation is technical content that documents API's. It includes instructions on how to effectively use and integrate the API and provides updates on the API’s lifecycle such as new versions or retirement. Some aspects of API documentation can be generated automatically via Swagger or other documents." (4)
For a flawless example of an API documentation example, read through "Getting Started with the REST API" on GitHub.
Software Documentation
Software documentation writing is another tech writer field in high demand. This type of documentation includes:
- Tutorials
- User guides
- Troubleshooting manuals
- FAQs
Real-Life Technical Writing Examples of Software Documentation:
- ClickUp is a newer project management program with some code commands built in. Check out ClickUp University for an example of computer tech writing and explanatory videos.
- Or see a tech blog on GitHub explaining what to do about feedback: "The Five-Minute Feedback Fix."
Importance of Technical Writing
Delving into intricate details and making it easy for others to understand is the work of a technical writer, whether you write:
- Press releases for a tech business
- Blogs for a paving contractor
- Course materials for a network of community colleges
- Annual reports for businesses
Technical writing is how we communicate complex information to those who need to use it. Communicating complex concepts in clear and concise language is a valuable skill in any industry!
So, if you have knowledge in any field and you're ready to get started as a tech writer, network within the field and look at job postings.
If you don't yet have the experience to show you're a good tech writer, check out online courses (like the ones below ;)
Get the Technical Writing Skills You Need
If you're looking for the technical writing skills you need to write as a full-time technical writer, look no further than Unmudl.
We offer a Certificate in Technical Writing course to jumpstart your tech writer career! The entire certificate course takes 15 weeks to complete at a cost substantially less than taking the courses individually! Learn how to engage readers with an active voice and avoid passive voice while honing in on your subject!
In addition, for those pursuing a degree, check out our Technical Writer course for credit.
We Can Help
At Unmudl, our network of community colleges and businesses gives worker learners the skills, resources, and hiring managers they need to level up their careers!
In addition to the Tech Writing Certificate Course mentioned above, we also offer a range of courses in various subject areas, including:
- Social Media Marketing
- Master Marketer Session - Inside Digital Marketing Strategy
- Business and Professional Communication
- Applied Marketing Foundations
- … and many more!
Technical writing is a valuable skill in any industry. If you have subject knowledge or enjoy research and want to pursue a tech writer career, or if you want to learn how to write better as a business professional, we can help!
Check out our course offerings today and find yourself on a journey where your dream job is possible!
Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated on:
March 6, 2024
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