RE: Losing my profession?

Subject: RE: Losing my profession?
From: Jerry Blackerby <jerryblackerby -at- home -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 06:33:19 -0500

david -dot- locke -at- amd -dot- com wrote:
>TW is one of those burnout professions. Most practitioners only last
two
>years. When I meet older TWs I always ask them what they do to avoid
>burnout. They usually take a break and hole up in an allied profession.
They
>write for themselves. They write a novel. They write poetry. They write
a
>play.
>
>
>Burnout is systemic to this profession.

David,

I respectfully disagree with you about technical writing being a burnout
profession. I have been a technical writer for over 40 years and have
never burned out. Unless I am burned out and do not know it. <grin>

Over half of my career has been on contract instead of direct, but most
of my contracts lasted years instead of months. I know many technical
writers that have been doing this for 20 to 40 years and still enjoy
what we do. We have gone through the market ups and downs and remain
true to our profession.

I have seen a few people burn out and leave the profession. Most people
that I have seen burn out did so early in their career and found
something else to do. I think anyone that burns out should find
something else to do.

Technical writing can be very demanding but also rewarding. At times I
have helped engineers or programmers solve problems discovered while
developing the documentation. This gives me a feeling of pride in what
we have done, both in the product and the documentation. A key factor in
my career has been the fact that I am always learning something new. I
feel very fortunate to have fallen into a profession over 40 years ago
that I have thoroughly enjoyed and still enjoy.

Jerry



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com

Sponsored by Information Mapping, Inc., a professional services firm
specializing in Knowledge Management and e-content solutions. See
http://www.infomap.com or 800-463-6627 for more about our solutions.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


Previous by Author: Re: Is a bad index better than no index?
Next by Author: Extending Dreamweaver's Help
Previous by Thread: Re: FWD: Losing my profession?
Next by Thread: RE: Losing my profession?


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


Sponsored Ads