Re: Tech writers as story-tellers (LONG)

["Lisa Wright" <liwright -at- qwest -dot- net>]

Michael West wrote:
> 
> A schoolmate of mine who became a successful novelist
> and writing teacher once told me that he thought writers
> of non-fiction---including science and technical writers,
> journalists, historians, and textbook authors---all need the
> gift of story-telling just as much as fiction writers do.


I have been a tech writer for about 5 years, and now I am getting more
involved with the marketing side of things because I am working for a
small company and am the only writer. I have started consciously
thinking in terms of "telling stories" when I am trying to figure out
what the heck I'm doing on the marketing side, but I hadn't extended
that kind of thinking to user documentation. I'm also trying to
recapture my creative spirit because I feel like my writing has gotten
stale. I used to approach writing software instructions with some
enthusiasm (okay, I'm a geek). But lately I've been doing them by rote,
and it shows in my writing.

Thanks for the idea.

Lisa Wright
Technical Writer
PeakEffects

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