Re: Why? Here's Why!

[Gene Kim-Eng <gene -at- genek -dot- com>]

In my case I drifted into it.  I was the annoying guy most techheads remember
who used to drag the grade curve up with 4.0's in the humanities classes.
Once out in the real world as an engineer, I discovered that in my particular
field even engineering was 80% writing (project proposals, plans, test 
procedures,
reports, etc.) and I ended up doing all the writing anyway.  Perhaps it's 
because I
started as an engineer, but as a writer I find I'm still writing 80%, and 
spending 20%
as part of various product developer/test teams, either as an indivudual 
contributor or
as a manager.  I don't think I've ever had a "typical day" as a writer, the 
work is a
lot more varied for me than my work as an engineer used to be, and that's 
probably
why I like it better than I liked being a design or test engineer.  I think 
you do
have to have a somewhat thicker skin that an engineer, because everyone has 
their
own ideas about what a "good" document is, and there are few ways to 
objectively
test the way there are for things like rocket engine thrust.  As far as 
companies
valuing writers, my experience is that it depends on what part 
documentation plays
in the company's success.  Govt/defense contractors often live and die on 
their docs,
which are a set-in-stone component of contract deliverables, likewise 
pharmaceutical
companies, which don't get to sell a single dose without a mountain of 
FDA-mandated
paper.  Companies that make their bread and butter on delivering "newer, 
faster, now"
often tend to brush all aspects of product support off as add-ons, 
including docs,
training and service, because as long as their customers' prime focus is on 
getting
the latest beta system up and running 8 months ahead of their competitors 
they can.
None of these is particularly good or bad, just different focuses for 
different industries,
and you live in the territory that comes with your choice of industry.

As for prospects, they seem to be all over the place these days, a good 
opportunity
here, none there.  Unlike the past couple of decades, when you could point 
to regions
on a map as say "go there, young tech writer, that's where the work is," 
today's job
map looks more as if someone shot it with a scattergun.  If I were just 
starting out today,
I think my inclination would be to try for a starting position as a 
non-writer (programmer,
engineer, lab tech, etc.) in some small company that has no writer, then 
impress my
employer with my writing abilities.  But that's just my opinion, and it 
undoubtedly reflects
my own life path to where I am.  YMMV.

Gene Kim-Eng
Writer/Engineer/Manager/Whatever


At 12:01 AM 4/4/2003 -0500, Sera Hill wrote: