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::: From what I've heard about technical writing, it's one of the most
::: unrecognized professions within the technology sector, yet
::: it's the thing
::: people will criticize first. Most programmers hate doing
::: it and those that
::: do hate it do a shoddy job of it. Technical writers have
::: to deal with
::: impossible deadlines and incomplete information all the
::: time. Feel free to
::: correct me if I'm wrong.
OK, I think you're wrong. ;) It is what you make it to be. You can allow
the workplace to define you as a pigeonholed wordsmith with little value
to the company other than a thought-to-text translator for developers,
or you can take control of your role and make it what you want. I work
within a group who, for years, was not interactive with the rest of
engineering. Within the past 9 months we have broken many of these
barriers down and not only have better working and personal
relationships with the rest of the company, but actually have created
some very cool opportunities (direct access to GUI strings for UI
improvements, direct influence over the spec writing process, direct
influence into new company-wide project management systems and bug
reporting systems, and more).
::: Why am I interested? It's the thrill of the chase, really.
::: I'd like to
::: hunt down programmers and make them give me all their secrets. :)
I'd look at it another way. You're pre-conditioning yourself for
conflict.
::: I've had experience in writing at school doing my minor in
::: English. I've
::: done some technical documentation and I'd like to get my
::: hands dirty with
::: more because I enjoyed doing it when I did do it. From
::: what I've heard from
::: technical writers I've spoken to, it takes knowledge of the
::: big picture,
::: which I like having. I like knowing how things fit
::: together. I like to
::: explain things to people, and I like putting things into
::: words that someone
::: non-technically minded can understand. I'm a good communicator and
::: organizer and I like dealing with people (insert Office
::: Space quote here).
::: I'm interested in new technology and learning about that.
Sounds like you know what you like doing...
::: I'm interested in
::: teaching people new things, but only when people actually
::: want to learn
::: them. And once people are getting to the RTFM stage, I'm
::: pretty sure they'd want to learn.
You need to figure out how to cater to your audience. You can't wait for
them to "come around" and start RTFM. This is where audience analysis
comes directly into play.
::: What's a typical day like as a technical writer?
My typical day involves meeting with various members of my company to
solve informational issues, whether it be to create content for a book
or figure out how to speed up the communication of issues within
engineering (among many other things). I don't think I've had a typical
day in a long while...
::: Why do people want to be
::: technical writers anyways (aside from my comments above)?
As Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith used to say at the end of every
episode... "I love it when a plan comes together."
::: Do you really have to have a thick skin?
Only if you foster abrasiveness and friction, IMO.
::: Is there some
::: mythical company out
::: there who actually values technical writers, because I've
::: noticed from the
::: postings that it's not exactly noticed.
Don't believe everything that you breathe. ;)
::: What's the
::: industry like today?
Depends on where you are.
Bill Swallow
wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com
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