Re[2]: Career-switching

[Rod Franklin <franklir -at- TCPLINK -dot- NREL -dot- GOV>]

     I'm sure many of you have made similar transitions from news writing
     to tech writing, and I'd like to share your insights on making that
     transition.

     I was a reporter for various small market newspapers for ten years. I
     loved it and was good at it. Now I'm a science writer at a national
     renewable energy laboratory. It's been a major change, but in some
     ways not that difficult.


     Certainly the money and opportunities, both short- nd long-term, are
     better in the technical communication field and the hours tend to be
     more reasonable as well. But how do you deal with deadlines that tend
     to be long range rather than daily? How do you get a sense of
     accomplishment or feeling of making a contribution to your company
     when you can work on a project for months on end without seeing the
     results, when before you needed only to pick up that day's paper to
     see what you had done lately.


     Newspaper reporters shouldn't feel "strung out" on the quick fix of
     instant publication. It's what initially attracts a person to the
     profession, but after a few years one can learn to rise above that
     desire in the same way that he or she learns to rise above the need to
     see a byline. These are more the superficial trappings of journalism.
     They help sustain the low-pay reality of small markets because
     publishers will condescend to writers by indulging their egos while
     paying only a pittance. Hitting a reporter with a come-on about
     front-page play the next day is almost tantamount to taunting a baby
     with a piece of candy. It's almost contemptous on the publisher's
     part.


     How do you cope with a subject matter that is often duller and less
     comprehensible than what you used to report on? Has the camaraderie of
     the newsroom been adequately replaced by your current office
     environment or do you feel isolated because you work in documentation?
     And do you miss the "free spirit" types you worked with in your
     reporting days?

     The camaraderie and free spirits you mention definitely comprise the
     elements that I miss most. There is no other profession that gives
     quite the same quality of maverick spontenaity and catharsis. My
     position at this lab certainly doesn't. It's very anal ... a cubicle
     environment ... too antiseptic to be entirely genuine. But what the
     heck, it comes with the territory.

     Finally, have you settled on this field as your career or are you just
     doing it for now because you can, and jobs are available, but you have
     your sights set on making another career change down the road?

     I am lucky in that I get to write about science and engineering and not
     software. I know the onus of technical writing could be much more boring
     than it is for me. But I doubt if I'll return to newspapers unless it's
     the big time at a guild shop. I basically got tired of what I mentioned
     above: the attitude of rich publishers, especially at small papers, who
     run slave shops on a dime. You finally reach the age where you simply
     need to bank some money and think about your future.


     Answers to these questions and any other insights you could provide as
     well as tips for avoiding news writing practices/styles that aren't
     welcome in tech writing would be most appreciated.

     - Dennis Callaghan
     SunGard Capital Markets Inc.
     Philadelphia, Pa.
     dcallaghan -at- sungard -dot- com

     DVC
     27OCT95