RE: anyone else in the same boat?

["Kim McGarghan" <kmcgarghan -at- nssolutions -dot- com>]

Boy, is this familiar!  I work for a startup company that specializes in
NAS.  I'd done tech. writing as part of my jobs for about 12 years, but this
was my first full-time permanent job as an official tech. writer.  I'm
working with software (and a little tiny bit with hardware).  Your mileage
will vary.

***

What I did:

I ran out and bought and read the following books:

	Managing Your Documentation Projects
	By JoAnn T. Hackos
	Published by John Wiley & Sons
	ISBN 0471590991

	Starting a Documentation Group: A Hands-On Guide
	By Peter J. Hartman
	Published by Clear Point Consultants Press
	ISBN: 0967417902

Hackos will be your best friend, and she and Peter Hartman will give you the
idea where to start.  When you hit the floor running as a lone writer and no
one has set up anything, you start with the most urgent forest fire and
begin to stomp it out.

	Untechnical Writing - How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So
Anyone Can Understand
	by Michael Bremer
	Paperback - 232 pages 1 Ed edition (September 1, 1999)
	Untechnical Pr; ISBN: 0966994906 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.59 x 8.97 x
5.99

Bremer is very friendly and I like his style.  He'll also be your best
friend, giving you a great sample of how to develop a document from the
ground up.

**

I already own the following books, which I brought to work and use
frequently, and recommend to you:

	The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and
Publishers, Fourteenth Edition
	By John Grossman (Preface)
	Published by The University of Chicago Press
	ISBN 0226103897

I use this one for the "look" of the piece -- formats, compliance with
standards.

	A Dictionary of Modern English Usage
	by H. W. Fowler (Editor), Sir Ernest Gowers
	Paperback - 725 pages 2nd Rev edition (May 1983)
	Oxford Univ Pr (Trade); ISBN: 0192813897 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.51 x
7.70 x 5.07

I use this one to make sure I'm not getting sloppy with my language.  It's
fun, too.

	The Grammar Bible
	By Michael Strumpf and Auriel Douglas
	Published by Knowledgeopolis
	ISBN 1-891968-00-9

I use this one to clarify points of grammar -- my one complaint is that they
sometimes bow to common usage rather than prescriptive grammar (and I can be
a purist).  But I learn more about WHY something is correct in reading this
one than I do when I read my Fowler's.

	Roget's Thesaurus (any recently published copy will do)
	A good basic dictionary.

I use these for the usual reasons.  <grin>

***

A starting place for WEB help:

There are dozens of valuable web sites that can help.

I find http://www.askjeeves.com to be particularly useful because you can
enter a question as though you were going to ask a friend:  "Where can I
find out more information about widgets?"

I love the FOLDOC computing dictionary, too:
http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/index.html.

As you keep doing this, you'll find more sites that are very useful to you
and you'll bookmark them.  Don't forget to use the STC archives and site;
don't neglect the Rays' archives, either.

***

I read like a lunatic, and then I read articles at the STC site and at other
tech. writing sites.

Then, on my second day at work <grin>...

I constantly asked my boss questions.  I obtained copies of the old software
manual (the owner had written one) and all marketing documentation (to get a
sense of the product).  I then obtained a current copy of the software and
played with it.  I then started mocking up templates for the documentation.
I tried to standardize naming conventions of the files so that anyone who
needed to could figure out where to find a file.

I'm in the throes of the last edit of a 300 page user manual; once this is
complete, I'll be turning my hand to white papers.  We've already been
writing the quick installation guides and release notes.

***

I hope this all helps!

I've been here five months and so far everyone is pleased.  I think.  <grin,
wince, grin>



-----Original Message-----
From: train2 -at- sprynet -dot- com [mailto:train2 -at- sprynet -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2000 8:32 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: anyone else in the same boat?


I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this:
I was recently hired by a company as a tech writer....
I have no previous experience and this company has no previous experience
with an in-house writer.  Anything they needed done was out-sourced to
consultants.
Now,  it is my job to figure everything out.  They dont really know what to
tell me, other than what they do.
I have no idea where to start.  I'm a stranger in a semi-strange land (just
because of all the studying I did).  Anyone have any advice??



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