An unread report, a misunderstood email, or an ignored recommendation can undo days of strong technical work. Better technical writing is a learnable skill, sharpened through writing courses, AI-assisted editing, books on the topic, and the habit of revising every draft before it goes out.
It’s hard to excel in any technical field without strong writing skills. The people who decide whether our work has value, including managers, customers, and colleagues outside our specialty, often can’t evaluate the technical substance directly. They read what we write about it, and treat that writing as a proxy for the quality of our work, as Jake Williams once pointed out.
Here’s how you can become a better technical writer, so you can clearly communicate with your colleagues and deliver your message.
Technical Writing Tips and Courses
Communication skills are trainable. Like most professional attributes, they strengthen with deliberate practice. Here’s some advice I’ve shared over the years on becoming a better technical writer:
- 10 Communication Tips for Security and IT Professionals
- Writing Tips for IT Professionals (a cheat sheet)
- Top 10 Cybersecurity Writing Mistakes
- Balancing Brevity and Verbosity in Business Communications
- Tips for Troubleshooting Human Communications
- How You Can Write Better Threat Reports
- How to Write Good Incident Response Reports
These articles outline advice based on my own experiences. Sometimes, though, enrolling in a technical writing course is the best way to expand your writing skills. Your local college probably offers such a course, and there are plenty of free options online.
If you’re in cybersecurity, consider my course SEC402: Cybersecurity Writing: Hack the Reader, which you can take online through the SANS OnDemand platform. You’ll learn how to make your message impossible to ignore.
AI Assistants and Grammar Tools
AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude can help you draft, restructure, and copyedit your writing. They’re especially useful for working through a first draft, flagging unclear passages, and suggesting tighter phrasing. Treat them as collaborators, not authors. They can introduce errors and produce generic prose if you let them, so you still need a clear point of view and the judgment to push back on suggestions that don’t fit.
For an example of putting AI to work on a specific security writing task, see my article Write Good Incident Response Reports Using Your AI Tool.
Spelling and grammar checkers in your word processor and browser remain useful for catching mechanics. Grammarly is a popular option that works across most apps and websites. Keep in mind that automated checkers are sometimes wrong, so don’t accept their suggestions blindly.
Khan Academy offers free grammar modules that are a solid refresher on the fundamentals.
Books and Podcasts
It’s also a good idea to look through a few books on the topic. The Elements of Style is a classic reference. On Writing Well is another worth picking up. Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences is a nice starting point as well.
Lastly, consider keeping up with podcasts that discuss grammar and language. They’ll expose you to new rules and concepts and remind you to pay attention to your writing. For this purpose, I recommend:
- The Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing podcast by Mignon Fogarty
- The Way with Words radio program and podcast by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett
These resources will help you get started, but you won’t get far unless you discipline yourself to examine every email and report you produce with a critical eye. Run a spell check. Use grammar tools. Ask AI and fellow humans for feedback. Set time aside to make revisions. Practice. Getting better takes time, so be patient.
