Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with technicalwriting

My dreams didn't work out, now what?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:50:49 -0800

Liberal-arts-grad-filter: How can I parlay my existing skills (qualitative, creative, communication-oriented, artistic, empathetic) and experience (tutoring, writing/editing, activism) into something with a sustainable income and job security? I am a 42-year-old American woman with advanced degrees in anthropology, creative writing, and women's studies. My employment history includes tutoring as a grad student, entry-level journalism, freelance writing, and a gamut of "B" jobs to fill the gaps. The most money I have made was as a technical writer for a trade union. I wrote manuals for apprentices. I was hoping to continue as a tech writer but found that contracts like the trade union were a rarity, and without IT experience I would not get many job offers in the field. I have $50K in student loans already and have never made more than $30K in one year, so returning to school would be a last resort. My parents are exasperated with me and will not help because nothing has really worked out for me so far. I don't expect them to be responsible for me anyway, and besides they don't have a ton of money either.

When the economy tanked, I lost all my freelance clients. I wanted to work in a more structured environment anyway, and I soon found a grant-driven, temporary position in pre-election activism. When that ended all I could find was an $11/hour clerical job that I just found out will end in six weeks.

When I was younger, I decided to pursue my dream of being a novelist at all costs, so I neglected my professional development and have lived an unconventional, Bohemian lifestyle, and I feel a lot of shame and regret at the way this has turned out. I have no assets, no savings, and no retirement fund. I do not have a spouse who can carry me through these tough economic times. Instead, my husband and I are separated and he is trying to establish himself in an artistic field also. Neither of us have kids, and he is a lot younger than I am. Our relationship is still very loving, but its future is up in the air. I initiated the separation, and our unstable financial life was a big part of the reason. My tiny income carried us more often than not.

We live in one of the states with the highest unemployment rate. All the instability in my life has propelled me into a nasty mix of anxiety and depression, and I'm being treated with medication and counseling. I finally feel like I can concentrate on something other than my mental health and I really need to start earning much more money. But because I haven't focused on how to be a truly professional adult, I have only the vaguest idea of how to get a better job. My core issue is my shame and my fear that I'm not really all that marketable -- that I'm nothing more than a dilettante slacker and that all any employer wants are things I don't have, like quantitative skills and an ability to multi-task and focus on detail. I try with my clerical jobs, but it's really hard -- I'm a very abstract thinker. I would love to become a counselor, but I think that is out of reach due to the student loans I already have. I didn't mind tech writing; at least I was working with words and making good money. I feel I don't have the luxury to pursue what I really love doing (journalism). The field is dying, and even at its best it didn't pay enough for me to save and pay off debt. My dearest dream was always to be a novelist, and I have started but never finished a novel. Right now I am too stressed out about money and the future to even think about fiction writing. Plus, I'm mad at myself for putting all my eggs in the basket of that difficult dream without a practical backup plan. For a long time I considered myself inept at anything pragmatic and I'm trying to change that.

I'm looking for any advice on how I can get out of the hole I've dug for myself. I sort of have a plan but I'm not very confident or hopeful it will work out. Part of my hopelessness stems from knowing the economy, part of it is my low self-esteem. My plan is to start attending local meetings of the Society for Technical Communications. I don't have the money to join right now but at least I can attend meetings and start networking. I want to improve my resume; perhaps they can help. I will also set up my LinkedIn page. I currently have my own apartment; I'll save money by moving in with a friend if I have to.

Relocation may be an option with or without my husband but we haven't figured out if we're going on together or divorcing. I'd prefer to stay where I am right now if possible because the changes I've gone through recently have been upsetting enough, and I hope my husband and I can reconcile. FWIW, I've read tons of career books and I'm looking for advice from people in the current job market and the writing field, not from books. I fear that I'm going to lose everything quite soon, including my good credit rating. I wake up every morning scared and alone. I keep imagining myself elderly, as a burden on relatives or a bag lady. Please help me think this all through.

Do I need a formatl certification to break into the technical writing field?

unlucky.lisp — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:51:05 -0800

Technical Writing -- Can I break into it without a degree/certification? and how? I've got a good 8 years of experience as a writer/editor under my belt, with 5 of those concentrated on web writing. I need to broaden my skill set so I can broaden my job search. As there seem to be no shortage of technical writing jobs, that's where I've decided to focus.

Here are my questions:
Can I break into the industry with a non-technical writing background? If so, what is the best way to market myself as a technical writer when in the past I've been a much more editorial/creative writer?

Do I need to look at certifications? If so, where are the most reputable places, preferably online? (Google-fu is failing me in this area -- so if you have personal experience, please chime in!)

Thanks!

Help me avoid being outsourced

diogenes — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:46:32 -0800

What would be a good niche for an American technical writer looking to avoid being outsourced to offshore competitors? I'm currently working as a technical writer for a fortune 50 IT company. I'm seeing more and more writing work being sent to India. I'd been telling myself that writing was safe because even excellent English speakers have subtle writing differences that sound "off" to American ears.

I'm getting less confident though. My company seems willing to accept a certain loss of American "tone" in their documentation. On top of that, I'm starting to see more and more writing from India that is indistinguishable from stuff writing by Americans.

I'm thinking now would be a good time to start thinking ahead. What would be a good niche for an American technical writer? I'm thinking green energy or biotechnology. Does anybody have any experience in either of those fields? What would be a good way to start transitioning? Is it possible to break into those fields without a degree in engineering or biology?

Any other ideas for growing fields (that need technical writers) that will be hard to outsource?

Not Actually Written By Dummies

lysdexic — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:44:54 -0800

I need help writing a detailed technical document in "for dummies" fashion. Is there a "for dummies" style guide as opposed to a style guide for dummies? We have a battered and tattered set of instructions for performing some major work on one of our critical systems. It has notes in the margins, things to look out for, and stuff we found in testing added to it.

The process went fine in the test system, but fell apart badly when we went to do it in production.

We know how we got there (i.e. what we messed up), and we're correcting it, but before we do this kind of procedure again, I want to re-write the instructions, with the annotations, in the "for dummies" format. I think the little icons (but wait!, techie info, danger!, etc) would be useful in these instructions.

Is there a "for dummies" style manual? My google-fu has failed me. I looked at this question, (plus the other ones that showed up as related) but I wanted to see what else was out there.

What's your tech writing bible?

nebulawindphone — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:15:39 -0800

What's your tech writing bible? So I'm writing a tutorial for a bit of software.

When it comes to the WHAT and WHY of it, I'm all set — it's a tool for researchers in my field, so I could go on for hours about the ideas behind it. But the HOW is proving tricky for me. Listing the steps to follow to do X, or describing what button Y does, or explaining how to find Z in the output, just leaves me incoherent.

I'm looking for a good book (or website?) on technical writing that will explain how to write well about this stuff. I'm a writer first and a techie second, if that matters, and I don't mind spending some time reading — I'd prefer something solid and comprehensive to a Fifteen Minute Guide For Dummies. Suggestions?

How do you write great help docs?

Palaverist — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:16:09 -0800

What are good resources for improving online help and user documentation? I'm interested in the conceptual side here, not the software tools. What I'm looking for is books, articles or examples that provide guidelines and insight into how to write top-notch software user documentation, including online help and user guides.

Mac lover seeks technical writing software solution.

munchingzombie — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:21:52 -0800

I am changing careers at the moment and am looking to get into technical writing possibly. Of the software that are industry standards (FrameMaker, RoboHelp) it all seems to run only on windows. I have a pre-intel Mac but would still love to get my feet wet, any suggestions? Having grown up with technology I can pick up software programs quickly. I am already familiar with other standards like Office, Corel, or Paintshop, but want to be at least passingly familiar enough with these other programs. Additionally, I need to create work samples to get a job.

What programs would you all recommend to me?

Thank you for your help.

Dull Title

SansPoint — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:16:21 -0800

I need a good, catchy title for my utterly dry and boring Tech Writing paper! I'm taking a technical writing class, which culminates in a 10 page paper. I've got a topic I love, research information, and lots of other stuff... but my title is the driest thing imaginable: "The Benefits of Web Standards in Corporate Web Sites". Though descriptive, as the paper is about the benefits of using Web Standards in a redesign of a corporate web site, it's just DULL.

Any suggestions for a replacement title would be greatly appreciated.

Please help me select a new job title.

27 — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 15:08:57 -0800

Please help me select a new job title. [mi] I'm in a position at work where I'm in line for a promotion and my employer wants my input on what my new job title should be.

I was originally hired as a Technical Writer. In addition to my responsibilities as Tech Writer, I took over the job of UI Designer several months ago when the previous designer (a contractor) rolled off the project.

My responsibilities are:

- Create and maintain documentation (online help) for a web-enabled, enterprise-level, application.
- Build and maintain wireframes, based on functional design docs and Business Analyst input. (HTML, CSS, some client-side scripting...JavaScript, DHTML, AJAX)
- Create, maintain, and adhere to corporate design/usability standards.

In a very small nutshell, that's it. All suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Oh - and if it helps - the software that I support is for the banking/financial services industry.

Thanks!

Getting a job as a technical writer?

drezdn — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 21:37:14 -0800

How can I get an entry level technical writer position? I have a degree in journalism, more than a year of experience in professional writing, and some background (a year of engineering courses) in engineering. Is it possible for me to break into technical writing with these qualifications? If so, what steps should I take to get a position?

should I go into technical writing

heatherann — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 20:36:24 -0800

Should I go into technical writing? As of June 2006, I will have an Honours BA in Linguistics. I'm interested in pursuing a Masters in Theoretical Linguistics, focusing on sex education and the discourses found there (i.e. how do we construct female sexuality? how to avoid heterosexism? do these attitudes in sex ed. correlate with rates of teen preganancy/infections?). I thought that I wanted to be a professor, but I've recently thought otherwise, given that I want to stay in Toronto and I'm not sure that I am in it for the non-teaching aspects of the job. I read Linguistics journals and just don't give a rat's ass about most of what is being published.

While I would love to somehow revamp sex education in public schools, I'm not sure how to go about getting into that or whether that is even a job, particularly for someone with an Arts degree. It might be something that I'll get into on the side -- maybe hook up with Good for Her or something. The Masters is an option that I'm considering because I'm interested in it, I have a 95% chance that I can get TA jobs (@ York, currently have an 8.0/9.0 GPA, professors know and like me, there are no LING PhD students to compete with), and therefore come out of grad school with no additional debt, experience with publishing a large document, and teaching experience. However, it would be another year or two without starting to pay back my student loans.

So, I've been looking at college courses, and both technical writing and editing have jumped out at me, particularly this program at Seneca which includes a co-op term. I have had jobs in the past editing/designing two Student Handbooks and one Seminary Academic Calendar and enjoyed them, working in both Quark and PageMaker, plus experience in various Communication-related things (press releases, website content, radio ads, etc). I am detail-oriented and like editing things and checking for consistency. I enjoy tutoring and usually find it easy to break things down into simpler language.

Does this sound like a good fit? What sort of people enjoy technical writing? Is the field still expanding? Should I bother with the Masters? Is it okay to settle for a job that will be alright in order to pay the bills, while pursuing the things I'm really interested in on the side?

What does a technical writer do, exactly? How much does it pay?

Tlogmer — Sun, 30 May 2004 23:28:48 -0800

What does a technical writer do, exactly? How much does it pay? Good field to go into?

What is a good process to follow when pitching ideas to publishers?

theNonsuch — Mon, 24 May 2004 08:28:47 -0800

I have what I think is a great idea for a web / design-related book that I'd like to shop around. Can anyone who has been published before offer any advice, links, or a good process to follow when pitching ideas to publishers? (more detail in comments) A rough list of the publishers that could publish this book (to give you an idea of content): Peachpit, New Riders, GlassHaus, Wiley (professional division), maybe others I haven't though of yet.

The book idea is more of a theory book than a technical overview, so O'Reilly isn't really a possibility. Oh, and I have writing experience, but more of the newspaper / magazine kind than with longer formats like books.

Web Design RFPs

dobbs — Mon, 05 Jan 2004 09:53:46 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good resource (online or a printed book) that has examples of proposals for web site redesign. I'm not looking for samples of designs, but what you would send a client who gives you a Request for Proposal (RFP).