Re: Some questions from a grad student about careers in technical writing

["CL T" <straylightsghost -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Interesting questions...

(reposted)

1. What steps do you take when writing a document?


   - I usually follow some bastardization of the ADDIE model (adjusted to
   fit the environment/need/product)


2. How do time and budget limitations affect your writing?


   - They are the wind and the current - The ALWAYS have a factor and will
   usually be the main factor.


3. How much time do you spend writing?

   - I write constantly - Tech writing and my own writing/publishing. At
   work about 30% of my time is involved in writing.


4. How and when do you revise and edit documents?

   - I try not to edit until I finish a revision. When I do heavy edits and
   final cleanup I read from the last page (bottom) to the first page (top).
   I'm a lone tech writer in this position, so I do most of my own editing.


5. How did you acquire the skills you use for your job? Did you take classes
or have on-the-job training, etc.?

   - English, editing, writing, ESL Tutoring and publishing at University.
   - I am/was also a Web/Multimedia developer, so many of the tools I
   self-taught (University didn't do much for the toolset).
   - I listen, read the manual and study to learn new tools, tech and
   skills.


6. What steps did you take to get to the position you are in now?

   - Recruiters are my friend.
   - Networking
   - Web Site and Search

<http://www.linkedin.com/in/collinturner>


-Collin Turner
Tech Writer, Screencaster, Writer
www.collinturner.com



On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 12:18 PM, Tom Johnson <tomjohnson1492 -at- gmail -dot- com>wrote:

> A grad student in technical writing (Gretchen) asked me some questions for
> an assignment and needs a response sometime this evening. I don't have
> time,
> but I thought someone on this list might want to respond. You can either
> respond in writing or by phone.
>
> Here are the questions:
>
>
> 1. What steps do you take when writing a document?
>
> 2. How do time and budget limitations affect your writing?
>
> 3. How much time do you spend writing?
>
> 4. How and when do you revise and edit documents?
>
> 5. How did you acquire the skills you use for your job? Did you take
> classes
> or have on-the-job training, etc.?
>
> 6. What steps did you take to get to the position you are in now?
>
>
> You can email her at gretchen -dot- hollis -at- att -dot- net or call 817.889.2907.
> (She gave me permission to forward the info.)
>
> Tom
>
> ---------------------
> cell: 801-822-2241
> blog: www.idratherbewriting.com
> twitter: www.twitter.com/tomjohnson
> news: www.writerriver.com
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing 
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

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