TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: apologia pro vita sua From:"Brady, Joy" <JBrady -at- alldata -dot- net> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 25 Jan 2000 08:25:09 -0500
Elna's correct, of course.
Tech writers can and do make good money. Like I said, my pay's comparable to
the programmers, and I realize that for all of the skills expected of me, I
don't have to wear a beeper and be on call all weekend. At the end of my
post, I expressed joy about my pay. I'm rather new to the field, so I've got
some real dues to pay before I'd get "remarkable" money.
I'm in Central Ohio, and salaries are definitely lower here than in
California, including programmer salaries. Cost of living's reasonable, so
I believe it evens out.
It seems that companies realize that they need a lot of programmers, but get
by with just one or a handful of tech writers. Perhaps the writer who can
"do it all" works for them, because companies I've worked with (apparently
it's different in California?) don't seem to demand GREAT documentation,
GREAT layout, GREAT design, etc. Perhaps this is because they often have no
documentation to start with. They're glad to have "something." Always, a
working product that they can rush out to market seems to be the priority. I
understand why that happens.