Help for a new tech writer

[McLauchlan, Kevin]

Dang. I got carried away with production-work-related issues and forgot:
Maybe you want to consider OpenOffice.org for your documentation suite?

The price is right.
It's arguably as powerful as Word in most ways, and it is better if you
want to cleave to a styles-only method of working. Not perhaps as solid
as FrameMaker in that respect, but gosh-darn good these days.
And much cheaper than Frame...
Well supported both with formal documentation and via
users at openoffice.org.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:
techwr-l-bounces+kevin.mclauchlan=safenet-inc.com at lists.techwr-l.com
>
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+kevin.mclauchlan=safenet-inc.com at lists.techwr-
> l.com] On Behalf Of Jim Mezzanotte
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 11:59
> To: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
> Subject: Help for a new tech writer
> 
> File this under "careful what you wish for." I've been trying to break
> into
> technical writing, and now I've plunged right into the deep end. I'm
> working
> for someone who is gearing up a manufacturing plant from scratch, and
he
> needs complete documentation for every operation that will take place
> there.
> Seventy people will be operating the plant when it is up and running.
My
> background is in print publishing--minimal proficiency in Quark, and
> that's
> it. He's leaving the software choice--and everything else--up to me.
> 
> Am I nuts to take this on? I will be starting slowly, a few days a
week,
> with research at the plant. All the info I will need is essentially in
the
> owner's head, so I will be doing extensive interviews with him. But I
need
> to get the right software and a template to work with so I can at
least
> start plugging things in to some kind of structure. I'm wondering
about
> Framemaker or Indesign.
> 
> I know I haven't given much info (I don't have much yet), but anyone
have
> advice for me?
> 
> --New (mildly panicked) tech writer

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