Re: What Are the "Cutting Edge" Technical Writing Skills?
What are the skills that place one at the forefront of technical writing?I would discount all your suggestions. Technical writing requires some writing skills, but is not nearly demanding as journalism, let alone fiction. Similarly, a passion for learning is important if you're a contract technical writer, but, if you're in a full-time position, I suspect that the ability to tolerate routine is more important. As for software skills, they may satisfy the HR Department, but they can be learned quickly, and don't make an outstanding writer. Not that these skills don't matter, but they're secondary.
Obviously, strong writing skills, a passion for learning, and a mastery of software programs such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Framemaker and Acrobat, and RoboHelp provides a strong foundation, but what are the skills beyond these that truly make a writer marketable?
Is it XML? XSLT? Flash? Adobe InDesign? VisualBasic? Indexing? Web usability? These are obviously just a small number of what are many possibilities, but I'd like to know what you think are the most valuable skills for a writer looking to move ahead of the curve, both today and in the coming two to three years.
In my experience, the two most important abilities for success are knowledge of your subject matter and organization. Naturally, you can't always know your subject matter coming in to a job, but, the faster you master it, the better you'll be at anticipating what your audience needs to know and do. Organization matters because it is relatively rare. Many people can learn to write a clever or concise sentence, or even a paragraph, but organization beyond these levels is rare, even at university. It's closely related to subject expertise, because, unless you know what you're trying to organize, you can't find a suitable organization - the best you can do is try to squeeze information into a template you've gotten from somewhere else, and hope that it's vaguely appropriate.
However, if you're a consultant, then I'd say that even these abilities take second place to a knowledge of how to conduct business: how to make connnections, and how to conduct yourself professionally. Without these skills, you'll never even get a chance to show what you can do with actual writing.
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Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
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