Re: undergrad tech writing students

[Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- UNX -dot- SAS -dot- COM>]

> Now that Gary Beason has fessed up, I too will tell you that I have
> some of my students at City College monitoring the list.  They were
> specifically told not to post for three weeks until they learned the
> vernacular.  Some have already begged to be allowed to quit.

Ha!

> Our
> discussion is a little dry and much too voluminous for them, I fear.

Have them keep this in mind when they find themselves writing for money.
It may make them consider the wisdom of using simple, direct prose
more favorably. 8-)

> However, other students have expressed considerable interest in the
>  list and the idea of tech writing as a career choice.

> Speaking of career choices: how is technical writing as a source of
> bread and butter?  Is it interesting and rewarding?  How did you
> folks happen into the field?  Peace, David Tillyer CCNY


I, for one, *love* being a technical writer. You can make a pretty good
living at it in the right circumstances, but you should really advise
your students to undertake technical communication as a career only if
they enjoy the mechanics of it as well. You can always make a buck doing
*something*, so you might as well do something you *like*.

Technical communication appeals to me for several reasons:

-       I like puzzles. Writing about new software products under
deadline is sort of like being Columbo, but you have less clues.

-       I like revisions. After the first draft is finished and
reviewed, I absolutely enjoy tinkering with book structure, sentence
structure, chapter structure, word choice and presentation techniques to
make the meaning as clear as possible. (As you may deduce, I really hate
generating first drafts. There are necessary evils everywhere.)

-       In my situation at least, there is a definite life-cycle to
every project. I enjoy the closure of sending one project to the printer
and the excitement of beginning a new book. And at the end of every
project, there's a concrete piece of work you can show to people and say
"hey, I *wrote* this".

-       I get to use computers a *lot* more sophisticated than I can
afford myself.

-       Our software is really neat. Modesty forbids any further
expansion.

-       I work for a *really good* company. That's important no matter
what you do.

I could go on, but maybe you can see the drift here. For me, this is
life on the cutting edge of information processing technology. Who
*wouldn't* want a career like that? Ok, besides Bobby Bonilla.

And for everyone out there recalling all of the negative aspects of this
kind of work, remember - that's why they call it work. If this stuff
didn't annoy you, or if it were flat out easy, they wouldn't pay you for
it. I became a tecnical writer in a mid-life career switch after years
of other kinds of work, and it was as though everything turned from
black and white to color.

Tell your students they made a good choice, and wish them good luck for
me.
<-------------------------------^------------------------------------->
|Len Olszewski, Technical Writer |"That's a, I say, that's a JOKE,    |
|saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com|Cary, NC, USA| son." - Foghorn Leghorn            |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|
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