How your field of study can help you in writing by Emilee Seltzer

In college but not an English or Journalism major? A career in technical writing is possible! In fact, a background in a specific technical field would be much more beneficial to you if technical writing in that field is of interest to you. Why?

Let's start off with an example of a field that is in high demand: Information Technology. If you are studying IT, you have a leg up on any of the competition for technical writing. Since you already have much knowledge and interest in the subject, writing in that field is not only easier, but enjoyable, too! Your knowledge of this subject puts you at an advantage over someone who has no background on the subject because you understand it.

Here is an example that shows exactly why majoring in a specific technical field is vital. If you are in Consumer Electronics, most of your job would be explaining complex ideas to both technical and nontechnical audiences. For the nontechnical audience, aka the average person, writing instructions manuals are most obvious. Your job is to use your knowledge of Consumer Electronics and explain the complexities in easy to understand terms and directions. When writing for technical audiences, most likely your colleagues or somebody else in your field, you can use proper field terminology and be much more concise, as you do not have to break things down, since your audience is already familiar with the field.

There are many majors and fields of study with possibilities of a career in technical writing. Here, I have compiled a short list of majors with that possibility.

• Finance
• Information Technology
• Robotics
• Engineering
• Biotechnology
• Chemistry

A career in technical writing could be right for you! I would suggest talking to a trusted professor or advisor about the possibilities out there for technical writing in your field.

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_writing