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

Subject: Re: Poll: Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career?
From: "Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- Users -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:45:20 -0400

From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
Subject: Re: Poll: Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career?

Technical writing actually was my "first ambition."
It was the first line of work I considered that wasn't
preceded in my mind by "well, I guess I could be
a...." It was just that in order to be the kind of
technical writer I chose to be I first needed to
serve an apprenticeship as an engineer.

------------------------------

This is reminding my of the rude awakening I got when I first started
looking around for tech writing jobs. I discovered that being a
technical writer was not just about being able to write well. It was
also about being an expert in a particular subject area. I suppose I
should have know that. In fact, I remember my dad saying, "I TOLD you
that was how it would be." But since the program I went through
emphasized the ACT of writing, it downplayed the idea of knowing the
subject matter. Fortunately, I found a position that let you learn on
the job.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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.


Follow-Ups:

Previous by Author: RE: levels of detail -- are we beyond this?
Next by Author: Why didn't they ask US for help???
Previous by Thread: RE: Poll: Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career?
Next by Thread: Re: Poll: Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads