Table of contents
Introduction
Technical writing is a high-level skill in today's world, as technology continues to rapidly evolve and innovations emerge. Technical writers play a critical role in translating complex information into easily understandable language for various audiences.
In this blog, we will explore the discussions of the sessions of Day 1 and take advice from amazing technical writers and get the answers to the questions.
Day 1
On day 1, we had Ankur Tyagi and Swapna Kumar Panda where they discussed the importance of writing for developers and Leveraging Technical writing to land opportunities respectively.
The host of the Hashnode Bootcamp is Dani, a community manager at Hashnode.
Session 1
Importance of writing for developers
The first session is taken by Ankur Tyagi. Ankur Taygi is a software engineer and technical writer.
How Ankur started writing?
He shifted from Java in 2011 to javascript in 2014. At that time, Angularjs recently came. He is working on a project. At the time, we can't able to have a call with every team member. They can't able to communicate properly.. so, They try to document their progress and explanation. At that time, he was excited about how to write..how to structure the documentation and he was reading the articles from people. How do they get time after 9 to 5 work? He was writing in the background and but he was not published. no domain knowledge. In lockdown, he connected with Raveen he push him to share the experiences.
why just writing should be effective?
Writing is important for everyone. The writing should be effective and in a polite manner.
For example,
In reviewing PRs, In comments be polite to answer and solve the issue, some people become harsh on new people. Don't be harsh.
If you become a Tech lead, you have to write RSP and you are used in product development areas.
After Code, writing is the second most important thing for developers.
Then, everyone gets the opportunity to ask the questions. Here is the list of questions and answers.
Questions:
how to stay consistent in writing?
It's an important thing to stay consistent. Many people have this question. As a developer, your code daily, and sometimes you become frustrated. You may get an issue with the code. solve the issue and write about it about you solve the issue. Do not force yourself to write. Start writing, when you have interest and motivation strike.
It depends on each of us, how we can do it.
Like, Ankur continuously writes for 15 days for his book. you can try this or write a weekly blog post or monthly blog post.
what is the right approach to getting writing ideas?
Many people have this question. And one of the people asked Ankur, how to write content on React related because lots of members all already written the content. In 2022 Andrew James tweeted doesn't matter already someone has written a blog on one particular area, people look for a different approach, thought processes, and ideas, How you particular your resolve the issue. Never thinks it's a duplicate of ideas.
You can make use of the Hashnode feature you can see articles of react particularly. Read the article, and see how they resolve the issue, try to explain the issue and how to resolve it in your unique way. At first, Ankur also has the worst ideas, you can see Ankur's old posts. He didn't delete it because it reminds him where he started, and where he is now.
When you get an idea write it down anywhere like the notes app. Pick your ideas when motivation strikes. In a recent blog Ankur about building an e-commerce store wrote with a calm mindset and with focus. And share your learnings in the form of a blog post.
Read other writers' articles, and analyze how they are writing. replicate the ideas, just try to follow the style, and understand how they're writing. Then explain in your way. Ankur also copy-pasted the ideas and wrote the blog in his way.
what is the first stage of diving into technical writing?
Read the other's blogs, and how they structure the content. You have to be good in communication, and one tech stack overall. some people say technical writing doesn't need code but there is a lie. To implement your ideas, you have to be good at code. Technical writing is a great carer for any startup that hires technical writers.
How long should a blog post be? I know it should depend on the topic but there is a way to determine the length, or should I make a series of blogs about the topic detailing everything about it?
You are already answered. Anlkur never says to limit the words. Some articles go to 2000 words. In the article, The attention span is very important. You have to get the audience's attention at the begging of the code itself in the introduction.
Don't write for yourself, write for your Audience.
Ankur Tyagi
Ankur writes a blog of 4000 words as well, don't write because no one is going to read it. Define your audience, whom you will be writing.
what advice will you give to someone who has just started in tech and also trying to document their journey?
Don't take pressure for writing. Just write what you are learning on weekly basics and monthly basics. Blogging and writing are not for everyone. Share How you solve issues like coding, and implementing functionality. After writing consistently, Then you can able to find your style. To get a job, you have to be unique, creative.
How do you keep your technical writing skills up to date and stay informed about the latest trends and best practice in this field?
Twitter is the main source of information. Explore Twitter and see other profiles whom you don't follow and checks in other industries as well. You will get to know about new things and new ideas. This idea is given by Daniel to Ankur.
After we are done with blogging is there any more way to make our blog reach out to more and more people apart from posting on Twitter or LinkedIn?.
share your blog on your socials. It doesn't how well you are written the blog if it doesn't reach the people. Crosspost your blog.
When someone asks you a question, answer the question and share the link to your article which is related to that question.
How do you combine or balance being a software engineer with being a technical writer especilally when you work a 9-5 job in an office setting?
It's all about what you want in life. You have to manage the work and prioritize things. Whenever Ankur gets time, he writes the content.
Session 2
Leveraging Technical writing to land opportunities
The second session is taken by Swapna Kumar Panda. swapna kumar is a technical writer and educator.
why are we discussing it?
why do developers care about it (Technical writing)?
The 3 pillars of democracy are the judiciary, legislative, and executive
same as 3 pillars of product document, application, relation
Application refers to an entire thing that brings a product into reality like implementation, development, and monitoring. the operation, supply.
Relation refers to product and end users. The document refers to the guide to use, when a new developer joins they can make use of the document.
we read about civilization bcoz someones document it. The document is also important for technical communication used.
Types
Technical Writing in the software domain generally wrote guides, manuals API/SDK documentation, training materials, SoW, SDP, white papers
First-hand problem solvers
we use a resource to solve the problem. Developers also solve do we document all those things. we can't ne remember, again if we get the same problem. so, document it, it helps us and others
Monetize technical writing can monetize his work:
Asking for subscriptions, collaborators, paid content, Ghostwriting, Full-time opportunities
Benefits:
By technical writing, You can improve your communication skills, better visibility, and works as proof of work and get paid.
How to improve your skills?
The basics
What can I write?
Share the problem that you solve, and you are learning something, share your learnings.
How can I write?
->Have a Good title i.e., related to the article.
->Explain the problem, and concept in such a way that the audience can connect with your article.
->Summarise the entire article at the end of the article.
->Add images related to the content.
->Avoid grammatical errors
Where can I write?
Swapna sir started writing blogs with the Hashnode, as it is easy to use. We can use Hashnode AI to generate good titles and suggestions to improve the article.
Take it to the next level
When your article is reaching more people, then
Connect with audience
Have a conversation with your audience, about what type of content they want to read, and solve their problems.
Maintain balance - Keep learning and share your learnings.
Questions from the Audience
How to increase our blog Visibility?
Swapna sir emphasizes that it takes time, to share your blogs and connect with other technical writers, have a conversation with them, reply to their posts, and be genuine. And solve the problems and help others.
What kind of research do you do when creating technical documentation?
Swapna sir notes that analyze what kind of problem, read other blogs, and prepare a draft in such a way that anyone can easily understand.
How many articles does one need to write before applying for jobs/projects?
There are certain platforms that allow people to write on their platforms, and you just need to have at least three blogs that have explained complex topics in an easy way. If you write threads on Twitter, then people also understand that you are good at it.
What do employers look for in a Technical article?
->Don't make silly mistakes like grammatical errors.
->The structure of the article, How are you writing the article, when you are using the headings, and bold letters? Connect the whole article . Summarise the article.
Learnings
->Documentation is very important.
->Maintain consistency by writing blogs once a week or a month.
->In the beginning, Don't focus on quality, share what you learn then gradually improve quality.
->Have a limited length of a blog, because the attention span of the audience is very important, if it is too long, no one is interested to read the whole blog.
->Replace long paragraphs with bullet points.
-> Share your blogs on different social media and cross-post the blogs.
-> Monetize your technical writing skill
-> Showcase your blogs and engage in communities.
-> Connect with other technical writers
Connect with me:
Check out Day 2 and Day 3 of Hashnode Bootcamp: