"Tech writers" are not "tech writers"

[Dori Green]

When people ask (and they sometimes do), I explain that I translate Engineeringese, Computerese, Educationese, and Managementese into English that anybody can understand.  "Oooohhhh!" they say, a visible lightbulb appearing above their crown chakras.  "Why yes, there must be a whole bunch of people who do that sort of thing, never much thought about it before."

If I had known that this profession existed when I was 8 years old, I would have put "technical" in front of "writer" when that dumb "what do you want to be" question came up.  I didn't know, so I just said "writer".  When I didn't say "veterinarian".

Now I'm a vet (gotta be these days if you have livestock; there is never an emergency when the official doctor isn't already out on a 4-hour crisis call), farmer, herbalist, poet, writer, process engineer, project manager, employee counselor, and pretty good cheesemaker if I do say so myself.  I'm also starting to write and sell photographs and articles to magazines, and to write more about technology.  There's a book or a pony in this pile somewhere.

Dori Green