Editor’s Note: The following piece by Eric and Deb Ray is part of our collection of “classics”–articles that stand the test of time no matter how many technologies come and go. This excerpt is from an original article reprinted with permission from Technical Communication, the journal of the Society for Technical Communication. Originally published in November 1998 [...] Continue reading ...
Establishing and Building Mutual Respect with Technical Team Members
As a technical writer, are you finding yourself wishing for just a bit of respect from the engineers, SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), or other technical people you work with? Are you finding that these folks seem to stonewall you on every question you have or every goal you’re trying to achieve? Are they obstreperous? Difficult? [...] Continue reading ...
Knowing When to Upgrade Software
Software upgrades generally do two things: Offer you new or improved features, and fix bugs present in existing versions. Whether you upgrade will depend on your need for the new or improved features, depend on whether you experience problems because of software bugs, and, of course, depend on your budget. Continue reading ...
Understanding Graphic File Formats
Identifying and fixing problems with graphics often comes down to a brief reminder of what the various kinds of graphic formats are and how to use each of them when they're the most appropriate--not merely most convenient--for the technical communications situation you're facing. Continue reading ...
Techie Technical Writer Series, Part III: Faking It as a Techie Writer
This is Part 3 of 3 in the Techie Technical Writer Series See also Part 1 of this series, Being a Techie Writer See also Part 2 of this series, Becoming a Techie Writer These articles have been filed under Getting Started in Technical Writing If you’re not yet a techie technical writer but are [...] Continue reading ...
Techie Technical Writer Series, Part I: Being a Techie Writer
What's the difference between a "technical" writer and a technical "writer"? Depends on who you ask, but it can often be measured in tens of thousands of dollars annually, dramatically reduced frustration in working with developers and engineers, freedom to work more independently, effectively, and efficiently than you thought possible, and even in the ability to telecommute or freelance more readily. Continue reading ...
Techie Technical Writer Series, Part II: Becoming a Techie Writer
Just for perspective, I'm writing this not as a techie who thinks he knows the secrets, but rather as an inveterate geek who nonetheless started his first technical writing job with minimal (inadequate) proficiency with Word Perfect 4.2 and his second with a hazy notion at best of what a network might actually be. As a matter of fact, in my first technical writing job, I spent hours reformatting text because I didn't know how to use table cells to make text align properly, and I had to be forcefully dragged into using styles rather than a simple formatting (Shift-F5, I believe) command. That said, I'm now a reasonably techie technical writer ... Continue reading ...