RE: Poll: Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career?

["McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>]

Tom Johnson offered:
> 
> For many, I think technical writing is more of a "stumbled-upon"
career.
> "Fallback" implies that it's in the back of people's minds as an
option B.

That describes my situation. 

TW was a much better fit, when I looked around within Philips (in
1985-ish) for something NOT connected to field support or otherwise
having my head inside a machine with a deadline and a customer breathing
down my neck.  Granted I still had my head inside lots of machines, but
it wasn't because some customer was down and waiting for me to figure
out their problem and get them back to earning revenue again.

TW, aside from being inherently enjoyable, was the kind of work that I
could "down tools" and walk away from at the end of each workday.
Moreover, each workday HAD an end. 

Definitely more "stumbled-upon" than "fallback", and certainly not a
sell-out from my perspective.  I'm honest enough with myself to realize
that I never did have the next Great American Novel inside me.  (Being
Canadian, I'd still say Great American Novel, 'cuz the market is so much
bigger and more lucrative...)

 - Kevin


The information contained in this electronic mail transmission 
may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected 
from disclosure. If you have received this communication in 
error, please notify us immediately by replying to this 
message and deleting it from your computer without copying 
or disclosing it.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and 
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical 
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.