It’s always something that I see cropping up when I go looking for jobs.
Technical Writer.
Well, I like to write, and I have lots of experience writing procedures that adhere to ISO 9001 policies.
So am I ready to be a Technical writer? What is it, exactly, and how do I break into this field?
I took a course in technical wirting in college (and promptly dropped out). Technical writing is basically the writing of manuals, articles, etc., describing succinctly how to operate machinery, software, office materials, etc. etc. ad infinitum. Clarity is your friend as you descibe the inner workings of the operations of the 820-A version of the 550 HP Vernotron lawnmower, not to be confused with the 830-BC model lawnmower with the automatic cutoff valve, shown in diagram C.32232.
A technical writer is someone who writes technical manuals and such: Not even nonfiction, really, but more along the lines of what’s packaged in with a CoffeeMate and translated into twelve languages. 
An ability to write fiction is probably helpful, but I wouldn’t know. An ability to make yourself understood with the written word in an extremely dry medium is what’s called for.
Not necessarily. Sure, there are plenty of tech writers out there who write coffee machine manuals. However, I’m a tech writer. I write college level computer science textbooks. We strive to be NOT dry - I have to clearly and patiently explain and define things, but I try to do so as interestingly as possible.
Perhaps a bit of a hijack…
I once worked for a company that made computer terminals. Our manuals weren’t very good, so the company hired a technical writer to redo them.
The fellow they hired had a good reputation at this sort of thing, but knew absolutely nothing about computer terminals. He kept asking me all sorts of basic questions about the topic, and I was convinced that the manuals he was writing were going to be a complete disaster. And to make things worse, he had decided to completely throw our current manuals away and start from scratch.
He wrote the best computer terminal manuals I’d ever seen. Clear, consise where appropriate and detailed where neccessary, and organized in a fashion that made using them to get information quick and easy.
I got my masters degree in Tech Writing, so I know a bit where I’m coming from. They have degrees in it, so going back to college may not be a bad start.
Basically, it’s how to present information. An ability to interview SMEs (subject mater experts) is really nice. The story WillGolfForFood said sounds common - you have to have the ability to absorb a lot of information very quickly in subjects you know nothing about. Familiarity with layout programs is also good - Microsoft Word (and I’m talking about things like style sheets and macros - the technical issues) and Framemaker.
Finally. a lot of technical writers are hired to do on-line help, either through web pages or RoboHelp. Some courses or knowledge of hypertext is handy.
I used to be one!
A technical writer’s job is to get information from brain A to brain B.
Putting it a slightly different way, his or her job is to get information from someone who already has it to someone who needs it, and to do so as efficiently (and painlessly) as possible. This is often done by writing things like user guides, instructional notes, help text or training materials. However, it can involve pretty much any medium, used in any way that meets the stated information transfer requirement.
As a professional writer, I’ve written printed books and guides, on-screen help text, audio cassette courses, videos, live (staged) presentations, websites and multi-media presentations.
Given a stated aim of presenting information X to audience Y, the tech writer has to figure out the best way of achieving this. A 200 page written manual? An animated help text presentation? A set of flip cards featuring funny cartoons? There are countless options, and the writer has to devise the optimum solution to fit the available time, budget and resources.
A professional tech writer is expected to have:
the ability to take a brief and come up with good solutions
excellent skills with regard to researching a subject or interviewing those who already know the material
an excellent command of written language
in-depth knowledge of all the different tools he or she may need (word processing systems, DTP systems, presentation tools, basic graphic design tools, help text authoring tools, web tools etc.)
for print work, good knowledge of different print and finishing options so that he or she can make sound recommendations, and liaise with professional printers
the ability to work to a budget and a deadline
There’s a lot more to it, but that’s probably enough to answer your question. I earned a living doing this in various full-time jobs for about ten years, and then for another 2 or 3 years I did it on a freelance contract basis.
If you’re very good at explaining things using the written word, and if you can deliver on time and on budget, then it’s not the worst job in the world. If you can get to the stage where you are doing it on a freelance contract basis, it’s actually a very good job - okay money and no little variety. There are three major disadvantages:
(1) Zero prestige. In the IT industry, much like in Hollywood, the writers are at the bottom of the food chain. I became used to being considered slightly less important than the woman who came round to water the potted plants once a fortnight.
(2) Being asked to work on projects that are never completed, or which are completed but are never actually published or used. This happens more often than you’d imagine.
(3) The ‘moving goalposts’ syndrome. It’s very often the case that the tech writer is the ‘servant of two masters’ and receives contradictory commands from different sources. Trying to reconcile these requests in one piece of work, and dealing with all the office politics and petty power struggles, was a major element of the job! Or it’s the same manager, but halfway through the project she radically alters the brief.
The good points are that if you can do it, it’s fairly easy work and can involve some good creative challenges. It can be very satisfying to come up against something which everyone agrees is very hard to explain, and then finding a way to explain it!
So, let’s say I wanted to pass from writing elegant posts on the SDMB to supplementing my income by freelancing as a technical writer.
Must one be “certified” in some way?
Since every job of any kind now requires prior experience, what sort of quasi-lie do you have to tell in order to get the first one? Is there anything like “submitting on spec?”
Do your already-near-zero chances drop yet closer to the logical limit if you indicate that you’d prefer working at home?
And–I’m 51 years old. Should I maybe hire a cool, cute 21-year-old actor to interview in my place, or do potential employers actually see some value in post-post-adolescent writers?
I’ve done this a few times. Unfortunately, I started doing it when the IT industry bombed, and the freelance stuff dried up immediately. I’d love to do it again, as it was right up my alley. Very detailed but easy work.
As WillGolfForFood’s story illustrates, a total lack of knowledge about a subject is generally a plus for a tech writer. If you get an interview, mention that. 
It’s a post-modern-ironic world after all!
You know, an excellent resource for technical writing is, go figure, the Society for Technical Communication (at http://www.stc.org/).
From their page:
They have regional meetings, so if you are interested, try hooking up with your local chapter.