This phrase have often been repeated. It's popularly attributed to Peter Drucker but others may have said this or along the same lines.
There's truth to this. Businesses and organizations would die if stayed stagnant and didn't innovate. Sadly, some ended up dying because they refused to innovate.
But how do you innovate as a technical writer? Well, there's only way I know how. Just be willing to take on new challenges.
Others, who are of a higher caliber than I, may give you detailed plan or philosophical method to innovate. I don't have any of that.
My way is simple. Maybe naive. But it has seemed to work for the past 26 years as a technical writer. Lord willing, years to come.
I'm just willing to stretch myself and tackle when things that outside my comfort zone. I'll admit I hate it every time I have to do this. I would rather just write and edit. But if you have been in technical writer for a while, you know it goes beyond that.
But being willing to take on challenges is what to grow and adapt as a technical writer in a constantly changing tech environment. Though my principles of what constitutes as good technical writing has mostly remained the same thoughout the years, my approach to create documentation and content constantly changes. What I did 20 years ago doesn't work anymore today.
Being willing to take on challenges is what helped me grow in areas, such as API technical writing. For example, that form of technical writing I only had a rudimentary level of understanding for a while. But when I was offered an opportunity to create and edit YAML files, it grew me as an API technical writer exponentially.
Just this willingness to try new things is what causes to innovate. I thank God I have these opportunities when they arise. I get overwhelmed by it every time. But when I get past it, I am grateful I am able to grow every time.
The beauty of the Internet or AI is when we stuck on challenges we can turn to it for help. If you have read my posts on AI, you know my stance on the matter. I'm wary of it but not afraid of using AI in limited cases. We might as well use this double-edge to our advantage when we create technical documentation and content. Of course, always do the hard work as a writer and write!
If you feel what I'm saying isn't enough to innovate as a technical writer, especially when AI is lurking around, then you can feel free to research what interests you or new trends and go from there.
For me, I'm not going to spend that energy. I'm just going to save it whenever new challenges or opportunities arise based whatever comes my way or when I'm documenting the things I'm currently doing.
Go out there and innovate! Don't let technical writing die.
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