Hello! My name is D’yara, and thanks for stopping by my blog.

Are you here because you want to know what it takes to become a technical writer? If yes, then you are in the right place. It has been said that if you try to explain something to someone else, you’ll gain a better understanding of what you are trying to do yourself.

So here goes my journey of becoming a technical writer while understanding technical concepts.

How did I get started? 🔥

In high school, I attended a summer enrichment program called Emerging Scholars at Clemson University. During this program, I was introduced to blogging, but it didn’t go far because I had no clue of what to blog about, so it was just left out there with just an account of emptiness.

I've had so many doubts about actually getting the first article out there for the longest time.

Q & A's like:

1. What do they need?

   • Hmm! Javascript, or maybe let's take it back to a little bit of CSS. Dang, it! It's already out there on the web.

2. Where or When will they be reading my articles?

   • Girl, does it matter right now this is just the beginning, but remember to put it in your unique voice.

3. Why or How will they be reading this?

   • To be informed of course. Also, I hope they read it everywhere, on a bus, on a train, but in the car. I mean when you get in your car you sit directly in your seat. When you get on to a bus or train, you are walking on to it, then walking to your seat.

My point is to give your mind some time to wonder before you publish your articles.

One day the 100 Devs community I'm in had a sponsored class from Hashnode, he suggested that we signed up and that right there sparked a flame all night long.

After that sponsored class, Hashnode was asking for the first 1000 attendees to join their September Technical Writing Bootcamp, and I clicked it to join because I was so excited to be a part of something so amazing.

Got there and I see Quincy Larson, the guy that made FreeCodeCamp, sharing his thoughts and experiences. I’m sitting at the computer like “Wow I would have never imagined that I got to sit in a session with the guy that I learned most of my Web Dev skills from online”.

What motivates me to keep going? ✨

“Believe you can and your halfway there.” -- Theodore Roosevelt

The thing that motivates me to keep going most is that everyone is uniquely made, and if I don’t believe in myself then how can others believe in me.

I figured I had it all planned out at the beginning but when it got to the point where I had to come up with my first article I didn’t feel so unique until I went over my notes from the Bootcamp’s sessions on Day 1 and said, "What the heck lady, let's do this.

Then I thought to myself “I have to find my voice”, says Edidiong Askikpo because I am unique.

If you want to get started:

• take a course on technical writing

• Read

  "Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river." -- Lisa Lee

• Stay consistent

  "You learn to write by writing." -- Jean M. Auel

What are my goals as a writer? 📝

My goals as a writer are to be an influencer of technical products and services. I want to communicate through writing by providing easily absorbable instructions to help other software engineering beginners understand specific topics.

Wow, I’m sure that is many of technical writer’s plan in engineering, but I think I’m on to something here.

To get straight to the point my main reason for writing is to:

• influence others to keep going
• teach them as best as I can
• and document clear communications of difficult information to beginners/intermediates like myself about Software Engineering or Web Development.

Not that I don't want to write for the advanced topics but this takes time you can't do it all in one day it's impossible when you constantly deal with Imposter Syndrome. But believe me, there is a way to overcome this syndrome.

Tips for becoming a technical writer

Consider the following tips as you begin your journey of becoming a technical writer:

• Be proactive about your skill development

It's important to focus on your skill development, and build your knowledge of written communication. Most importantly, develop your understanding of terminology you aren’t familiar with. Taking a course in technical writing can help increase your success on your technical writing journey.

• Focus your development on one niche.

Pick the niche you want to write about so you can build your knowledge of that particular subject. Learn to follow the tone, style, and content appearance, and practice them.

• Learn and develop web design skills.

Many technical writers produce content for online platforms and websites, so it's important to have talent in showing ideas graphically, known as web design. Consider taking an online course for this also to help you become aware of the need to produce an image for the technical article you are presenting.

• Create online courses for tech writers.

I mentioned in the very beginning that if you teach others about your niche and how to apply technical and communication skills it'll help you develop a deeper understanding of your role and elements of technical writing.

• Familiarize yourself with coding.

Develop familiarity with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Those are the main 3 to get started within web development. As a software engineer, I started with Java but I see Python as a great choice also. If you become successful with those then you're ready to take the adventure of explaining it to your audience.

P.S. Don't just start the journey as a writer, try to stay consistent.

💚 Thank you for reading till the end. Also, please leave a comment for feedback on how I could improve for my future articles.

I would love to connect with you through:

• Twitter 🕊️
• Linkedin 🌐
• or Github 📓