“Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind” Rudyard Kipling.

We sit beside our cubicles, thinking on how of a procedure and why of a concept before we pen them down in the digital world. And this is not the beginning and end of the story of a professional writer.

We all write stories, articles, news items, blogs, and content for websites. We sometimes wish to communicate to the other person, all we have in our heart and mind, and find writing most capable of it. All these acts of communication with others are now the most powerful thing it ever has been.

With the advent of IT, we have more & varied jobs today. One of the areas where your writing can work wonders for you is content and learning. Termed distinctly in different organization as Technical Writers, Information Developers, Technical Communicators, Instructional Designers, these people play a vital role in IT organizations.

Involving in converting technical jargon into easily understandable, simple language and enabling users of a particular technology / software to perform tasks without hindrance, these breeds of writers can help reduce the support and maintenance cost down up to 90 percent. And that’s a huge saving for an organization.

Unless a technology is explained in simple language, which in turn can be understood by the vast majority of people, it ceases to survive in the market today. Whatever the technology it is, whether it is cloud, conventional or contemporary, if it cannot be explained, it’s as good as unavailable. That’s the reason there exists a huge demand for writers today.

And the good news is that you don’t need to be a domain expert to be a writer. For example, J.K. Rowling, who was a school teacher, got international accolades for her fantastic novel Harry Potter.

We will limit our discussion to possibilities in the field of IT. If you wish to pursue your career in writing, there exists several opportunities which you can foray into – storyboarding, technical writing, blogging, ghostwriting, and cloud information and so on.

To put forth in simple words, writing is an art of conveying a message. No technology can replace writing as writing is ever updated technology. Writing covers conveying ideas, translating technical jargon into simple language for end users based on scope, audience analysis and objective.

Who can become…

Since English is a major language of communication in almost all IT organizations, we will discuss the possibilities with the premise that you stand at a reasonable level as afar as understanding, communicating and writing in English is concerned.

If you own an ability to understand and communicate the technical jargon in an easy to understand, simple English, then you can start venturing into this vast field. We recommend that you spend some time learning some softwares that can add value to your profile and help you in getting into this arena easily.

Some of basic softwares that today IT organizations are looking for when considering a profile are Microsoft Office, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe RoboHelp (Authoring Tools), SnagIt (Graphic manipulation tool) and so on.

What will you be paid…

In an IT organization of repute, as a fresher, your starting salary may equal to any other promising career you compare in this industry. As you add experience and domain knowledge, your hikes are certain. Unlike yesteryears, with new avenues for growth, you now have many possibilities to have a challenging career ahead.

Why writing, the final words…

In comparison with other avenues in IT, you might have to master some computer languages in addition to your regular degree; whereas if you select this career path, with simple writing skills and your ability to understand technology / software concept, you can carve your way into IT industry.

You can further foray into several opportunities such as brand building and development, corporate communication, and so on. However, again, it all depends on the greater ability of any individual striving to achieve the goals set.

Apparently you will need to update yourself in order to meet demands of the industry.

Also contributed by: Satyanarayana Maddi (Project Lead, Tech Mahindra, Hyderabad)