I’d Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson

Jara writes,

I am so glad that I found your blog. I truly need an advice. Initially I got accepted as computer science and business major, however I did not see myself stimulated by it.

So I changed to International Relations and Development studies, something I always wanted to study.

But now, I am faced with few job prospects. Even though I left to work as a reporter in the UAE. I love writing. But it is quite a competitive, still market and I wanted to go back to Canada, one year in the UAE was way too much for me.

Now I want to pursue technical writing as a career. I am motivated, since I am a hybrid between science and arts, and it will enhance my pay.

But I want to be trained as a technical writer, I have about 4 computer science credits, I know rudimentary computer science concepts, though  C ++ is something I can vaguely recall.

I really need your advice on this.

Are there any internships for technical writing positions? What can I do? And what are the computer software programs I need to know?

And I am a fellow blogger as well.

My best regards

Jara, thanks for writing. It’s good that you have skills in both computers and writing. That combination  provides a great foundation for a career in technical writing. You don’t have to be a computer programmer to land a job as a technical writer, unless you plan to write documentation for programmers. However, any programming knowledge comes in handy.
Read the rest of this entry »

The work keeps piling up -- who can do it all?

Sebastian asks,

I have been searching the web for information about how to divide workload among writers as the the workload–and the department itself!–grow. I am thrilled to find your blog! I am a new writer in a Health Information Systems doc group. We write for 120 products, maintain 600+ documents (several output formats). Do you know of any effective strategies/tools/medications?

What kind of documents do you produce?

We produce online help, how-to guides, quick reference guides, manager’s guides (procedural content), introductory guides (conceptual content), release notes, configuration guides, known product issues, tutorials…. Read the rest of this entry »

K. writes,

Dear Mr. Tom Johnson,

I am a Post Graduate in English. Recently I am working in a leading public house as writer. How can I become a successful TECHNICAL WRITER?

Please reply me as soon as possible.

K.

Dear K,

The best thing you can do to develop your skills and ability with technical writing is to actually do some technical writing. Find an open source project, such as WordPress.org or Pligg, and write some documentation for it. Most open source projects have poor documentation, so they provide excellent opportunities.

When you finish your user guide or online help, ask someone on a technical writing listserv (like TECHWR-L) to review it. Someone will probably give you excellent feedback. Make a few updates, polish it up, and use it as the technical writing sample in your portfolio. Nothing gets you more familiar with technical writing than actually doing technical writing.

Tom