Technical writing: a guide for pros
What customers ask, how to win the job, and what to put on your profile.
Offering technical writing
Technical writing clients usually have knowledgeable staff and a document that is unclear. Show that you interview experts well, write for a defined reader, and test your steps before you deliver them.
What customers ask
- Who is the reader, and how do you decide what to explain?
- How do you get information from our engineers or staff?
- Will you test the steps before delivery?
- Can you update the document when the product changes?
- Which file formats and templates do you work in?
How to win the job
- On the first call, ask who will use the document, what task they need to complete and what they already know, then say the reader back in one sentence.
- Ask for the client's existing manual and mark two procedures where the steps are unclear, to show how you would fix them.
- Put the documents covered, the expert interview time and the user test into the quote, so the client knows what is included.
- Show a sample procedure with numbered steps, one action per step, and a note on the warnings you added.
- Ask the client to name the subject matter expert who will review each procedure, and put that review in the schedule.
- Offer a short style guide for the client's documents, covering terms, headings and warnings, so later updates stay consistent.
What to put on your profile
- Sample procedures, with the reader and the product or process noted.
- Industries and products you have documented, such as software, equipment or internal systems.
- Your process: interview, draft, illustrate, review and user test.
- The tools and templates you work in.
Follow-up that helps the customer
- Offer to update the document after each product release, with a short list of the steps that changed.
- Suggest a short user test with two or three new staff members, to check the steps before a wider rollout.
- Offer quick reference cards built from the longer procedures, if the client wants them.
Licenses and permits
Technical writing is not commonly licensed, so you usually do not need a license to offer it. Check with your state or local licensing agency for business registration, and keep a written agreement that names the documents covered, the expert review step and who owns the files.
Questions
How do I show I can document something I have not worked with?
Show a sample procedure from a field close to the client's, and describe how you learn a new product. Clients trust a clear method more than a list of tools.
Should I write the safety warnings?
Write the warnings the expert gives you, make them clear, and place them where the reader needs them. Have the expert confirm each one before the document goes out.
How do I keep a document up to date?
Agree on a review schedule in the contract, and ask the client to tell you about product changes. Quote updates separately in the agreement.
Pro reviewers
Pros who offer technical writing remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.
Edit history
- Oct 29, 2026: Drafted by infinibell to our content guidelines.
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