Technical Writers Must Learn to Be Technical

— Samartha Vashishtha

Bruce Byfield

After a successful stint as a technical writing consultant, Bruce Byfield moved on to journalism, and is currently working as Contributing Editor for some leading technology portals. In this interview with Samartha Vashishtha, Bruce speaks candidly about his experiences and the road ahead for technical communication.

You have been a teacher, technical writer, and now a journalist. How has the journey been? What has brought about the transition?
I used to say that the reason was that I have a low boredom threshold. But the truth is that all these careers had more than enough variety for me. The real reason is that I'm a writer at heart. With each career change, I was getting closer to what I really wanted to do. Journalism is the closest yet, so it's the most satisfying of my careers so far. Even if I start selling more of my fiction, I'm unlikely to abandon it completely.

How was your experience as a technical writer? What companies have you worked with? What trends did you notice in technical communication in the United States?
When I started as a technical writer, I was tremendously excited. Finally, I'd found a career where an English major like me could earn decent money.

Gradually, though, I became tired of having to prove myself all the time. There are a lot of technical writers in North America who believe that writing skills are all they need, and that they don't need to know anything technical. That's never been my style, because I firmly believe that you have to understand what you are writing about to do a good job. But the technical writers who refuse to be technical are numerous enough that they have left a bad impression in the high-tech industry, and each time I started a new job or contract, I'd have to prove that I wasn't like them. Selling articles on free and open source software gave me some instant credentials with developers, and that helped, but technical writing is still a low-status job in North America. I'm not in the least ambitious about making my way in the business world, but after being a product manager and director of communications, the lack of disrespect for technical writers was hard to endure. Besides, having done the job of my managers, I couldn't help thinking that I could do their work better than they could.

I worked mainly as a consultant, so I had experience with dozens of companies. IBM, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Dataphile, The Alderwood Group, Stormix Technologies, and Progeny Linux Systems are some of the companies that I have worked with.

It's hard to generalize the trends, especially in the United States since I'm a Canadian. However, the most general trend I have noticed is an almost universal tendency to under-budget for documentation and a reluctance to develop processes that support it. For example, at most companies, getting a review of the documentation accepted as part of the release cycle is almost impossible. Some companies are better organized, but they are relatively rare.

Many technical writers feel their profession does not command enough respect from developers and program managers. What are your thoughts on this?
It's true that most technical writers don't get much respect. Part of the reason is that most people who aren't writers themselves don't understand what writing is about. They believe themselves literate, and most people certainly are literate enough to write a short letter or memo. But they haven't tried writing a long document themselves, so they don't respect the difficulties of the task.

Coupled closely with this problem is a lack of foresight to see how good documentation can increase customer satisfaction and reduce the need for technical support. These matters are hard to quantify—so for many people in business, they don't exist.

But a large part of the lack of respect also comes from the attitudes of the writers themselves. Developers tend to operate in a meritocracy, and until you can prove yourself to them on their own terms, you are not going to get any respect. With the attitude that many technical writers have that they don't need to know anything technical, it's not surprising that they shouldn't get any respect.

The sad thing is that the respect of developers isn't hard to gain. You don't have to be an expert in what interests them. In most cases, showing an interest in learning the technical details is all you need to do. Yet too many technical writers won't even make that effort.

In the end, it's very simple: unless technical writers show respect for what developers do, they shouldn't expect any respect from developers.

Tied to this is the insecurity that technical writing may not be a sustainable profession for life. How do you see the future of the profession in general? What countries will be the hub for technical writing in the years to come?
As the name suggests, technical writing combines two skills—technical expertise and writing ability. The profession is unsustainable only if you don't develop both at the same time. Companies, especially high-tech ones, are always going to need someone who understands their technology and can explain it to the average person. I don't see how this need can ever go away altogether.

That's not to say that the media for technical writing won't change. But, although you have to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each medium, regardless of whether you are presenting information on paper, online, or in a video, the basic act remains the same. Regardless of the medium, you are still explaining.

At a guess, the countries that will be the hub for technical writing will have a number of similar traits. They will be ones with lower labor costs than North America. They will be places where many people have a good command of English, since English will probably remain the language of international technology for some time to come.

Increasingly, though, a pool of people literate in other European and Asian languages will become important, because technology is starting to become internationalized—and a good thing, too, for those whose first language isn't English. These will be the minimal requirements.

However, in addition to these requirements, the countries that will dominate technical writing will be those that also have technically educated people who are also highly literate.

No country completely fits this description, but from the little I know, I'd say that India might some day make its mark. South Korea might, as well.

What is the general growth path that technical writers should chart for themselves?
As I said before, technical writers are hybrids. They need to develop both their technical knowledge and their writing skills. They can start with just one, but they shouldn't believe that they can do the job well without both.

A double major in computer science and English would be ideal, or a major in one and a minor in another. In addition, some experience in design and layout would be useful. Often, technical writers need to do everything for themselves, so the more skills they can offer, the better their chances of employment.

Some universities offer technical writing certificates or programs, but I'm a little skeptical of the ones I have seen. They tend not to be nearly technical enough.

You have a creative writing background—your genre of choice being poetry. Do you feel technical writers have the freedom to play around with words? Putting it differently, do you find technical writing, with its standard templates and style guides, creatively stifling at times?
Every genre has its restrictions, so although technical writing may have more than most, it's not unique. No matter what the genre, the challenge is always to pinpoint the information that you need to convey, and then to make sure that you do so appropriately.

Admittedly, technical writing is simpler than journalism, fiction, or poetry. You have a smaller lump of facts to sculpt into a coherent whole than you do in journalism, no concern for plot or dialogue like fiction, and, unlike poetry, your stylistic concerns don't extend beyond clarity, brevity, and preciseness.

However, that's not to say that technical writing isn't a challenge. As Isaac Asimov once said while replying to criticisms that his style was too straightforward, stained glass has been made for centuries, but clear glass that you can see through is a much more recent invention. Anyone who thinks that a simple and a clear style is easy or stifling hasn't tried to write in such a style.

Your current assignment is as Contributing Editor with the Open Source Technology Group (OSTG), which maintains some of the leading technology portals on the Web. What attracts you to the open source philosophy?
To be honest, I'm more of a free software advocate than an open source supporter. The open source movement tends to be concerned with the quality of software that making the source code available to everyone produces. By contrast, the free software movement is interested in the philosophical freedoms that making the source code available helps to protect.

I'm an idealist, so the idea of extending the concept of civil liberties into software and computers is both logical and exciting to me. Like me, millions of people spend their days in front of a computer, so we should be concerned that civil liberties are preserved in such an important aspect of our lives.

Just as importantly, free software levels the playing field. It gives developing nations a better chance of taking their place with industrialized nations, and encourages computing in languages other than English. I'm in a privileged position, being a native English speaker from one of the top industrialized nations in the world. But I believe that this privilege is unjust and anything that erodes it is only ethical.

What promise does open source software hold for the technical writing community? Can technical writers contribute their bit to the movement?
Definitely! Documentation is still a weak point in a lot of free and open source software projects. In fact, free software projects are an excellent place to gain experience that will help you get hired.

What open source tools should technical writers learn? Where do they begin?
A lot of free software tools can be used in technical writing. OpenOffice.org, for example, is a more than adequate substitute for Adobe FrameMaker. I know, because I have used it for a number of manuals. The GIMP can be used instead of Adobe PhotoShop. If you use GNU/Linux, you'll find dozens of other useful pieces of software, including Scribus and Inkscape. The choices are more limited if you are using Microsoft Windows, but they are there.

Last time I checked, the biggest lack for technical writers is free software for Windows Help files—and, for all I know, some project is working on that now.

Now, with the advent of Web 2.0 and associated technologies, how do you expect technical writing practices to evolve the world over? Will there be new modes of information delivery?
Any changes due to Web 2.0 will be in terms of working methods. Collaborative working methods can be very unsettling to people the first time they encounter them. Writers, who often have a strong sense of ownership of their work, may find the adjustment harder than most.

Eventually, writers may find themselves using online applications rather than desktop ones. Just now, though, online applications are too primitive for a technical writer’s needs. They may also find themselves working on wikis, and with more content management systems.

But all these changes are peripheral, I believe. At the core, the act of writing won't be seriously affected. Technical writers may learn a different style, but their concern will still be organizing ideas so that people can understand.

What do you think is a more important aspect of technical writing—knowing the tools of the trade or developing a writing style that communicates ideas clearly?
Developing a clear style—it's certainly harder! Technical writers do need to know how to use advanced features of programs, such as the styles in a word processor, but once they have learned one application of a particular kind, they should be able to pick up other applications of that kind pretty quickly. If they can't, they are probably in the wrong profession!

How do you see the future of technical writing in India? Any advice for the technical communicators here?
India has the potential to be a center of technical writing. Many of its people are fluent in English, and its technology sector is booming.

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