Technical writing resources for beginners
Communication is an essential skill in the workplace. Not only are clear communicators viewed as more capable; they also empower others to do their best work. Even if you have experience writing documentation at work, the free resources listed here can help you improve your skills.
Free technical writing resources
Technical Writing Essentials by Robin L. Potter and Tricia Hylton. This is an open textbook that you can read online or download.
Technical Writing Courses by Google. This site contains courses several courses used at Google as well as a list of additional resources you may find helpful. The next two are resources I found through here.
Microsoft Writing Style Guide will help you write technical documentation like Microsoft.
Write the Docs is a community that provides many resources to help you network, learn, and find work.
Professional, Technical Writing by Purdue Online Writing Lab. This resource is geared toward business letters and memos, but also contains helpful information on research and planning, technical papers, and white papers.
Finally, your library may offer online courses you can take at your own pace. For example, my library offers a continuing education (CE) course on writing policies and procedures.
What about AI?
To write well, a person must think well. Technical writing requires planning, collaboration, project management, and distillation of ideas. These features make it both well-paid and difficult for current AI models to do. In fact, here’s a synopsis of what Google Gemini said when I asked it why current AI tools are ill-suited to technical writing.
- Lack of domain expertise
- Difficulty with creativity and critical thinking
- Incapacity for originality
- Challenges with understanding context
- Limited control over tone and style
And then it said, "AI-powered tools can assist with repetitive tasks like formatting, grammar checking, and fact verification.” Note the extra spaces; it’s probably not suitable for formatting and grammar checking. And current AI tools, like LLMs, are notoriously bad at fact-checking. We’ll be okay.