Since I was a kid, I have always wanted Freedom. I can break down freedom into Financial Freedom, Time Freedom, and Location Freedom.

Financial freedom means living without worrying about money or paying bills. Time freedom means choosing what I want to do with my time without taking orders from anyone. Location freedom means living and working from anywhere in the world.

With technical writing, I can afford to pay my bills and work from home on my schedule. As a result, I have enough money to last me 3+ months without pay. Also, I bought myself a phone, a laptop and moved to a one-bedroom apartment.

In this article, I will share how I got into technical writing. Then you will learn how to get into technical writing and start making money online.

How I Got Into Technical Writing

If you don’t know, I quit the School of Engineering and went to learn how to code. I tried to start a Tech Company but failed due to a lack of financial support. After that, I tried to build websites for people using my coding skills, but things weren’t working out as I wanted.

I decided to create a personal brand and build an audience on Twitter. So I joined Tech Twitter Community, and that’s when I started to connect with other people in Tech. I began creating tech-related content on Twitter, and my account grew.

I wanted to blog as a developer, so I decided to learn how to write. So I wrote my story about quitting the School of Engineering and getting into Tech. As I continued creating valuable content on Twitter and growing my Twitter account, I got the Twitter DM below.

I hadn’t written any Technical Articles before, but I was ready for the challenge. So I wrote my first article about using SQL to visualize stripe payments data in Postgres.

I was supposed to be paid $200 for the article, but since it took a lot of work to finish it, I was paid $300. It was the first money I made online, and nothing could beat the feeling I got after getting the “You have received message.”

Since landing my first technical writing opportunity, I have worked with different tech companies where I can make $1K+ per month.

Before jumping into how to get into technical writing, let us first understand what technical writing is.

What is Technical Writing?

Technical Writing is preparing instruction manuals, how-to guides, tutorials, and other supporting documents to communicate complex and technical information in an easy-to-understand manner.

There are two types of Technical Writing:

1. End-user documentation
2. Technical Content Marketing.

End-user documentation provides instructions for the end-user of a given product or software, while Technical Content Marketing is creating blogs that do not directly promote a brand but are intended to bring interest in its products and services.

With technical writing, you can choose to freelance or get a full-time Technical Writing job. As a Freelancer, you can earn $100 to $1,000+ per article. If you choose a full-time job, you can make $2,000 to $5,000+ per month.

How To Get Into Technical Writing

Below are the steps you can follow to get into technical writing

Step 1: Learn how to code

Step 2: Build coding projects

Step 3: Learn how to write

Step 4: Write about your coding projects

Step 5: Publish articles on blogging platforms.

Step 6: Create Content on Twitter

Step 7: Apply for technical writing jobs

Step 1: Learn how to code or programming

Technical writing mainly involves writing about the software or technological products. These products are created using programming languages or technologies. To write about such products, you have to be familiar with the programming languages or technologies used to create them.

I have written more than 10 paid and published technical articles for tech companies’ blogs, and most of those technical articles involve coding. To learn how to code, you can learn the basics of technologies or programming languages below.

• HTML and CSS
• JavaScipt and ReactJS, NextJS, or NodeJS
• Python and Django
• PHP and Laravel
• SQL, Databases, and Data Analysis

Step 2: Build coding projects

After learning how to code, build coding projects using the programming language you chose to learn. For example, if you learn JavaScript, you can build a simple project such as a calculator in JavaScript.

Note that building coding projects will help speed your learning process and avoid getting stuck in tutorial hell. Tutorial hell is a situation where you only watch coding tutorials without applying what you learn to build something.

Step 3: Learn how to write

Learning how to write is not complicated as most people think. To write a good piece, you need to know how to:

• Put words together to create a clear sentence.
• Put sentences together to create a straightforward paragraph.
• Put paragraphs together to create a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.

The best place to get started learning how to write as a technical writer is by going through the Google Technical Writing Course.

The course will teach you how to:

• Write clear sentences.
• Write a paragraph.
• Use grammar properly.
• And more

Step 4: Write about your coding projects

After learning how to write, use the writing skills you have learned to write how you built your coding projects. Maybe the project you built is a calculator in JavaScript. Write about the process you followed to build the calculator in JavaScript.

Remember that you can be a:

• HTML and CSS Technical Writer
• JavaScript Technical Writer
• React and NextJS Technical Writer
• Python Technical Writer
• PHP Technical Writer
• SQL Technical Writer

Step 5: Publish articles on blogging platforms.

After writing about your coding projects, then publish your articles on free blogging platforms for developers, such as:

• Dev To
• Hash node
• Medium
• Hackernoon
• DZone

Publishing your articles on these blogging platforms will help you build a portfolio. Having a portfolio is very important because when a client or a recruiter wants to hire you, they want to see your previous work. Make sure you write 3 to 5+ articles to have a strong portfolio.

Step 6: Create Content on Twitter

Now that you know how to code, write, and have written some articles, start creating valuable content on Twitter. Creating content on Twitter will help you to:

— Build an audience.

— Create a personal brand.

— Make meaningful connections.

Creating a personal brand on Twitter will bring you opportunities you never knew existed. Creating content on Twitter helped me to land my first Technical Writing opportunity.

Step 7: Apply for technical writing jobs

Now that you have worked on your writing skills and have written a few technical articles, you can start applying for technical writing opportunities.

Most platforms will give you topics that you can write about. Others will ask you to come up with a topic that you want to write about.

However, some platforms expect to see two or three technical articles you have written before.

That is why it is important to start writing before applying for technical writing gigs.

If you are looking for platforms paying technical writers, check out this website called “whopaystechnicalwriters.”

Conclusion

As long as technology exists, Technical Writers will always be in demand. That guarantees you job security as a Technical Writer.

Follow me @the_greatbonnie for more content.