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>
> As far as writing ability,when I had my first interview for a tech writer
> job as a career switcher
> from public school teaching, after looking at my samples they asked me
> where
> I learned to write so well. After a moment I replied that *I was trying
> to
> find a polite way to say that I paid attention in school*, as the only
> formal
> writing instruction I have ever received was part of my general liberal
> arts
> education in public school and college.
Yup...for me, what I really needed to know I learned in elementary school.
No doubt it helped that it was an elementary school in a very affluent
community, but nevertheless that's where I got 95% of the training necessary
to pursue a career not just in writing, but in communications.
That aside, I started writing professionally by volunteering to write
business articles for the local Chamber of Commerce newsletter. I parlayed
that into writing an article (for pay) in a software magazine, after which I
became somwhat of a regular contributing editor. After several paid bylines
in software journals and volunteer participation as a beta tester for
Microsoft, it was fairly easy for me to make the leap to a technical writer
position. Today I wish I had experience in documenting APIs, however, and a
military clearance would be very useful.
> Chris
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