: Re: What are the key skills for a new technical writer? For those that are just starting out, what are key skills they should have or learn to be a good technical writer?

@Alves689

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Assuming you write other things (id est, assuming you have ease of written expression), there are four skills to polish that apply to all of technical writing.

Simplicity through division: Break complex ideas in many simple ones.
Simplicity through vocabulary: Use everyday words whenever possible without sacrificing precision.
Simplicity through organization: Set the text up in a way that every concept is readily supported by previously explored concepts.
Simplicity through tidiness: develop an unobtrusive way of explaining terms. Sometimes a footer is a distraction, sometimes it is the most appropriate.

Through practice and observance of those principles, technical material can become enjoyable reading material.

After you develop those skills, there are some steps (not skills) you need to follow in order to be a good technical writer. Others that answered before me mentioned some of them (such as knowing your audience), but as I think that's not the spirit of the question I'll not address them. They are, of course, key for successfully writing technical articles, so you should heed those answers too.

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