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Timothy Huckabee has <<recently been asked to pen an article for "Technical
Communication", the Journal of the society for Technical Communication.
This, I have been informed, will be a volunteer effort on my part without
remuneration. On one hand, it is an opportunity to get published in TC...on
the other, I feel strongly about writing for free. This particular piece
would constitute a fair amount of time and effort to complete.
Suggestions?>>
If you're serious about writing, you need to decide soon whether you're
doing it for the love of writing, for money, or for some combination of the
two. I've written for years purely for the love of it, from what I learn
while I'm trying to assemble my thoughts into something coherent, and from a
sense of wanting to share my insights with friends and colleagues that
(because of distance) I'll never get to talk with in person. I'm also
continuing the tradition of those who mentored me along the way. (Some folks
call that "paying back" or "paying forward", depending on how you want to
look at things.) Several years of doing so garnered me enough of a
reputation that I can now also write for money--and do so regularly and
lucratively--but I wouldn't do the writing if it were solely for the sake of
money. For that matter, I wouldn't account for such a large portion of the
bandwidth on techwr-l either if money were my prime motivator--which not
everyone will see as a good thing. <g> Some day I may cash in on my
publications track record as a consultant, but that too would just be a
bonus.
So why write an article for Tech. Comm.? Apart from the future potential,
the act of writing should be satisfying in itself. I've made some great
professional contacts and even some long-term friends via my writing, and
that may happen to you too. I'm now serving on the editorial board for Tech.
Comm., by the way, largely due to recognition of my efforts in spreading the
gospel on techwhirling here and elsewhere. Also an unpaid position, but a
flattering one to have been asked to fill, and offering many compensations
(working with fascinating colleagues, improving the body of knowledge in our
profession, etc.) for the work I'll put in over the years in this role.
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
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"In seeking wisdom, the first step is silence, the second listening, the
third remembering, the fourth practicing, the fifth -- teaching
others."--Ibn Gabirol, poet and philosopher (c. 1022-1058)
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