Technical Writers have different contents they write; user manuals, tutorials, or how-to-articles, but they all share some common challenges. Here are some challenges that technical writers face:
1. Dealing with SMEs (Subject. Matter. Experts):
Most times SMEs lack experience in helping to author, most information they drop has to be re-worked. They don't give enough information, and a Technical Writer has to change it for the audience to understand and make sense of it.
2. Not enough access to a Product:
Technical Writers cannot experience a product, be it a software or an app. So often you have to work with what you've got. Essential tools for a Technical Writer are; help authoring tool, grammar checker, screen and screenshot maker, and others. Without these, the quality of the completed documentation is affected.
3. Last-minute changes:
You still have to handle last-minute changes to product features before the product is made known. It happens because technical writers are sometimes allowed to be involved in the last stages of production, and these results in rushed work.
4. Giving you more projects than you can handle:
Technical Writers often get urgent works apart from the initial projects they have been given. You are expected to work on those "urgent or important" projects without slacking on the initial projects given.
5. Poorly defined and managed projects:
A certain project may not be properly defined, it, therefore, becomes difficult for a Technical Writer to figure out their place in it.
Some listed challenges can be very annoying to handle but when there is nothing to do about it, we have to adjust to it.
Also, these challenges can push you to motivate yourself and improve on your work. Boosting your self-confidence to voice out about a project you know you will have struggles with, learning time-management to handle different projects without letting them overwhelm you or put pressure on your neck, and improving your communication skills will go a long way to deal with these challenges.