How to Write a Technical Article in 2025: Lessons From My 6-Year Journey

When I started technical writing back in 2019, I never imagined how dramatically the landscape would change. After writing hundreds of articles and earning over $15,000 from technical content creation, I've learned that success in 2025's technical writing scene requires a completely different approach than what worked just a few years ago.

In this article, I'll share my battle-tested process that i will use in creating compelling technical content in 2025's AI-driven world. This isn't just theory it's what I use every day to write articles that consistently earn between $500 and $2,000 each.

Let me take you through my journey and show you exactly how I craft technical articles that resonate with both readers and clients.

The Evolution of Technical Writing

When I wrote my first technical article in 2019, it was enough to simply explain how something worked. Today, in 2025, that barely scratches the surface. I learned this lesson the hard way when one of my articles about React hooks got buried under thousands of AI-generated tutorials.

Here's what I have discovered will work in 2025:

Understanding the New Landscape

The first thing I tell every aspiring technical writer is this: you're not just competing with other writers anymore – you're competing with AI. But here's the secret I've learned: that's actually good news. Let me explain why.

Last month, I wrote an article about implementing WebAssembly in React. Instead of just explaining the technical steps, I shared my personal struggle with performance optimization and how WebAssembly solved our startup's critical rendering issues. That article earned $1,800 because it offered something AI couldn't: real experience and context.

The Modern Technical Writing Process

After writing over 500 technical articles, I've developed a process that consistently produces high-quality content that stands out in 2025's crowded landscape. Here's my exact workflow:

1. Experience-First Research
I no longer start with Google searches. Instead, I begin by implementing the technology I'm writing about in a real project. For example, when writing about GraphQL subscriptions recently, I built a small real-time chat application first. This gave me insights that no amount of documentation reading could provide.

// Real code from my chat application
const ChatSubscription = () => {
  const { data, loading, error } = useSubscription(
    NEW_MESSAGE_SUBSCRIPTION,
    {
      onData: ({ data }) => {
        // Here's where I discovered a crucial limitation
        // that became the centerpiece of my article
        if (data.newMessage.timestamp < lastProcessed) {
          handleOutOfOrderMessage(data.newMessage);
        }
      }
    }
  );
}

This code snippet became the foundation for a section about handling out-of-order messages in GraphQL subscriptions – a real problem I encountered that wasn't covered in any documentation.

2. Personal Story Integration
Every technical article I write now includes at least one personal story. Here's how I structure these narratives:

The Problem Setup:
"Last sprint, our team faced a critical issue: our React application was taking 8 seconds to load on mid-range mobile devices. Our analytics showed we were losing 23% of users during this initial load."

The Journey:
"We tried code splitting, lazy loading, and even rewrote our state management. Nothing moved the needle significantly. Then, during a late-night debugging session, I discovered something interesting about how our components were handling data transformations..."

The Solution:
"By moving these transformations to a Web Worker, we cut our load time to 2.3 seconds. Here's exactly how we did it..."

3. Code-First Explanations
In 2025, with AI generating perfect documentation-style content, I've found that showing real, messy code first, then explaining it, works better than traditional top-down explanations.

// Real code from our production app
const useOptimizedTransform = (rawData) => {
  const workerRef = useRef();

  useEffect(() => {
    // This was our first attempt - it had issues
    workerRef.current = new Worker('/transform.worker.js');

    // We had to add this error boundary later
    const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
      if (!workerRef.current) {
        console.error('Worker failed to initialize');
        fallbackToMainThread(rawData);
      }
    }, 2000);

    return () => {
      clearTimeout(timeoutId);
      workerRef.current?.terminate();
    };
  }, []);

  // More real-world complexity...
}

4. The Reality Check Section
Every article I write now includes a section about what can go wrong. This has become my signature style because it's something AI-generated content rarely covers well. For example, in my WebAssembly article:

"After implementing WebAssembly, we discovered three critical issues:

1. Our debugging tools no longer worked as expected
2. The build process became significantly more complex
3. Some team members struggled with the new paradigm

Here's how we addressed each issue..."

5. Future-Proofing Your Content
One lesson I learned the hard way: technical content in 2025 needs to be future-proofed. I now include a section in every article about potential future changes and how to adapt to them.

For instance, when writing about React Server Components, I include:

// Current approach (2025)
const ServerComponent = async () => {
  const data = await fetchData();
  return <DataDisplay data={data} />;
}

// Preparing for future changes
const ServerComponent = async ({ signal } = {}) => {
  const data = await fetchData({ signal });
  return (
    <ErrorBoundary fallback={<ClientFallback />}>
      <DataDisplay data={data} />
    </ErrorBoundary>
  );
}

Monetization in 2025

Let me be transparent about the business side of technical writing in 2025. Here's my current revenue breakdown:

• Direct client articles: $500-$2,000 per article
• Platform revenue sharing: $200-$800 per article

The key to these numbers isn't just technical knowledge rather it's the ability to combine technical expertise with authentic experiences and insights.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

I've made plenty of mistakes along the way. Here are the biggest ones I will tell you to avoid in 2025:

1. Over-relying on AI tools for content generation
2. Not including enough real-world scenarios
3. Writing for search engines instead of humans
4. Skipping the implementation phase
5. Not addressing the "why" behind technical decisions

Final Note

Technical writing in 2025 will be more challenging but also more rewarding than ever. The key is to embrace your humanity, share your experiences, struggles, and real-world implementations. That's something AI can't replicate.

Remember: Your greatest asset as a technical writer isn't just your technical knowledge, it's your experience and your ability to connect with readers through authentic stories and real-world examples.

You might want to;

1. Start documenting your technical challenges
2. Build a portfolio of real implementations
3. Develop your unique writing voice
4. Network with other technical writers
5. Never stop learning and experimenting

The future of technical writing belongs to those who can blend technical expertise with authentic human experience.

P.S. Feel free to connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn to discuss more about technical writing. I'm always happy to help fellow writers succeed in this evolving landscape.

Comments

[Ravin Rau]

Thanks, @elliot_brenya, for this awesome write-up! I’ve just started my journey to write on dev.to, and I’ve always kept my technical notes in Obsidian, but I’ve never shared them before. This year, I decided to take a chance and share the things I’ve learned with the world, hoping it can help more young engineers on their path.

I really appreciate how you emphasize the importance of real-world experience and personal stories—something AI can’t really replicate. The shift to focusing on implementation and showing messy, real code is especially insightful.

One question I have is, how do you balance sharing personal struggles and solutions without overwhelming readers with too much context or detail? It seems like a fine line to walk between helpful insights and staying concise.

[Elliot Brenya sarfo]

I am gladly you resonate with this piece. To answer your question I will say “put out what your readers want to read” do not over complicate things. Try as much as possible to be concise and also speak their language.