The Morphing of Tech Writers
Jan 6th, 2006 | By Suzanne Norman | Category: DiscussionLast night’s STC meeting featured Dalton Hooper speaking on “Why I DID Hire You” and generated discussion on aspects of interviewing and tech writing. To parlay on a comment that “we didn’t dream of being tech writers when we grew up” . . . I’m curious how other members got in to this line of work. My story: It was the right place at the right time. I was a freelancer writing travel columns, medical marketing, and news articles. Temporary work for fast cash put me in a large corporation before Y2K. My 60-day contract as an education department assistant (mostly admin work) was up. On the last day, the recruiter called with another temp assignment. It was for a documentation assistant on the Y2K team. Now this sounded more like writing so I was interested. After showing my portfolio, the technology boss I interviewed with said, “We don’t use adjectives. None of that here. Can you write like this?” He showed me a system analyst’s plan. My response was “Of course I can write like that. Show me the format and I can write it. But, what about the technical knowledge?” His reply was “Oh, don’t worry. You can talk with the subject matter experts. They’ll provide you with all the information you need. The challenge was on. Exposure to an assortment of technical documents helped me grow in the information technology field. As my network of technical co-workers increased, I joined the Suncoast Chapter of the STC. By attending seminars and conferences, I’m adding intellectual capital to continue my career in technical communication. And, the transition from travel columnist to technical communicator has come full circle: I write with rhythm and adjectives again. I believe a professional writer can write almost any type of document if she/he has access to the right information. What do you think? And, how did you morph into a tech writer?
Suzanne Norman
I decided I wanted to be a fiction writer when I was in high school, but I quickly realized that writing novels was not likely to be lucrative for a long time — if ever. So I got an undergraduate degree in engineering physics, which led to a job as a software analyst, which wasn’t satisfying so I took a job as a Documentation Specialist for a science company. My passion for books had led me to do a lot of independent study of layout and design, and I’d been tinkering with web design on the side as well, so my combination of writing, layout, and technical skills made it a good transition.
After a move to Florida took me away from my consulting job as a Documentation Specialist, I tried my hand at graphic design for a while, and though I wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t my forte. Now I use the graphic design skills I picked up to support my contracts in web design and documentation.
A lot of my technical writing and editing is integrated into the websites I develop or redesign. A lot of graphic designers are not comfortable with the written word, so it’s boosted my business that I’m able to oversee the aesthetics *and* clean up the messy, unfocused, verbose text that’s on a lot of websites.
Looking back on it, my trajectory towards a lot of tech writing seems obvious, but when I was contemplating day jobs in high school I had no category for “Technical Communication.” Even in college, I don’t remember anything impressing upon me the possibilities in the technical communication field. If it hadn’t been for my first proposal manager strongly recommending I join STC, in fact, I think my career might not have evolved in the direction it did.
I’ve been planning to be a writer since I used my grandfather’s 1917 Underwood to create “books” in the early 1950s. In 1970 I sold my first piece on “How to hitchhike” and have been selling since then.
In 1999 my girlfriend suggested I try tech writing, but I pooh-poohed the idea, saying I thought it would be boring. (I’ve been writing about technology since the late 1970s.) However, the internet began dragging down the price of articles, and I began temping to pay the bills. While being an admin asst at a telecom company, I decided to hand in my resume for tech writing.
About three months later the head of the tech writing dept. said, “Your resume just surfaced on my desk.” He talked to the two tech writers in his group to see whether it would be all right with them. My first piece was 300 pages, and I’ve been doing it ever since. (And it isn’t boring at all.)
Hi Beth and Dale:
Thanks for your input. It seems being in the right place at the right time also helped your tech writing careers. I agree with Dale…it’s usually NOT boring. And the money is better than freelance articles (although articles are fun to write).
I was 25 years old before it dawned on me that what I really wanted to do with my life was write. I’d dabbled in writing a little, and had won a few essay contests for my efforts, but up to that point I’d never given much thought to writing as a career.
Ah, but how that has changed. I joined the online service department for a computer manufacturer in 1998, responding to technical questions via e-mail. It was there that I discovered that I was actually very good at writing clear, concise documents, to the point that within a year I was working at a productivity level 175 – 200 percent above that of my co-workers.
Two years later I was named top technician (out of 350), and was promoted to the technical content management department, where I’ve been writing and editing docs for the past 5 years. I recently joined STC, with the hope that I can expand upon my abilities and continue to grow and advance as a technical writer.
Although when I was a kid I never told anyone, “When I grow up, I want to write computer specs, software install instructions, and FAQs all day long”, I really do enjoy what I do. I take great pride in the docs that I write/edit, and I’m glad to share my knowledge and skills with others.
I didn’t even know what technical writing/communication was when I interviewed for the position. In fact, I didn’t even apply for this position. I applied for a technology training position because I thought it was more in sync with my skills and degree, which is teaching. I didn’t get the training position, but the HR recruiter felt I would be a good asset to the company so he researched other open positions that could be a potential fit for me. After three other interviews, I interviewed for a position as a documentation assistant. I was not really sure what I was going to be doing, but it seemed intriguing and challenging so I accepted the position when it was offered. I caught on quickly and ended up having a knack for it. I am now a technical writer II and have been doing this for six years. I enjoy what I do and work with a great group of technical communicators.
My dream was to be a nonfiction essayist, but I never knew that my continued interest in technology would make technical writing more rewarding for me. While I’ve always wanted to write — out of a mere love of words and stories — I never knew how much I loved technology too.
I resisted technical writing in college because it looked boring. When I began to actually write how-to guides and online help, however, I found that figuring out how complicated technical things work was engaging and worthwhile. And unlike marketing writing, I felt that when I wrote technical guides, I was helping others, not misleading them into buying products they didn’t need.
Also, whereas before I thought that technical writing was uncreative and lifeless, getting my foot in the door opened up my perspective. I learned that because technical writing uses sophisticated publishing tools, the possibilities for innovation are constantly increasing. For example, Scott Abel believes that structured blogging is a next major evolution in the delivery of help material …. but I’ll wait until he explains that in his post.
I started out as an electronic technican in the security industry. Technology has always had a great allure for me, and this was the easiest way for me to be involved. After fourteen years of working with hardware, I met my future wife, who at the time was a computer consultant and constantly on the road. When I confided in her my secret dream to be a science fiction writer, she offered to support us both while I tried my hand at the writing game.
After six years, I decided that the writing business was not for me, which left me in a quandry—what to do next? I still loved technology, and after some soul-searching I decided to combine my two former careers and become a technical writer. By this time my wife had taken a permanent job, and she found out about a co-op program at her employer. I applied and was accepted, and they recently hired me permenantly as a full-time Technical Writer.
The parade of ways that led us to tech writing is fascinating. We all have a love of the written word. Without this underlying motive, I think it would be difficult to develop materials. Congrats to all who are achieving success as a tech writer.
Mark, your wife must be awesome to believe in your dream…she’s a keeper.
With a bachelor’s degree in journalism (magazine emphasis) and a totally useless bachelor of arts degree in Russian studies, I went off at 22 years of age to the big wide world of trade publications. I was bored to death within nine months and not making much more than I had at K-Mart during college. It was the same routine, month after month. The only bright side was the industry knowledge I picked up along the way. I’ve always loved to learn. A friend of mine at the magazine got a job at Burroughs as a technical writer. She explained what the job entailed because I had no idea what a technical writer did—and little experience with computers. However, I did have banking experience, so based on my journalism skills and my knowledge of the financial industry, I landed my first technical writing position. From there, it’s been quite a ride. More than 20 years later, I’m still going strong.
I started out studying journalism on scholarship and working as a police officer/dispatcher on midnight shift. More times than not, their mainframe went down and I would figure out how to fix it.
I dropped out of college (not enough money), and got a job as a typesetter for a local paper. Bored with that, I moved on to working as an editor for a catalog company (I edited the copy for the catalog ads). Although, the editing was all right, what I really wanted was to write. So, I wrote and sold articles to various magazines.
Still not satisfied, I moved on to a manufacturing company–they wanted someone to write up the instructions for using their machinery. From there, it was a short hop over to a credit card company who wanted someone to create a newsletter. (Hey, I never had, but what the heck…it sounded like fun.)
I had been doing these types of jobs for almost 7 years before someone told me there was an actual name for what I was doing–technical writer.
Now with an official title, I went from newsletters to how-to manuals, to training materials, marketing brochures, and policies and procedure documents. Most places didn’t have a formal writing group, but once they saw what one or two writers could bring to the company, they soon developed one.
I’ve been writing now (with a few side trips into the realm of business analysis, trainer, and marketing specialist) for 30+/- years, and I have yet to grow tired of it.
I am aspiring to be a technical writer and want to get an opportunity to start in this field. I like writing, but to be honest with you, it is very hard for me. often subjects are very complex with many interwoven subjects that should be presented simultaneously. But you can’t do that You have tough decisions to make about structuring your presentation, making sure the information is state concisely. I’m always questioning whether my words are conveying the message.
What I really like is trying to understand how something works, and then explaining it. It’s like show and tell when you were in grade school. “Looky, here’s this cool gizmo, and this is how it works! Let’s have some fun and play with it!”.
Back in the old analog days, when machines used gears, and cams and levers, and made clickety-clack noises, I used to get into trouble for taking things apart. For some reason, I wasn’t able to get all the parts back together.
Anyway, I would be most grateful for advice on starting this career. I live in Englewood, which is about a 2 hour drive south of Tampa. So I can make meetings
Thanks for your help
Это прям в точку!!! Иными словами и не скажешь! :)