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I've been thinking about technical writing as a profession, and I have many,
many questions. However, most of these I'm sure I can get answered through
books, newsgroups, lists, etc. One question that won't be answered that way
is whether I'll be good at it, and enjoy the work.
This leads me to today's query. Have any of you ever given someone "sample
assignments" to work on so that they might get a better feel for the work?
For example: You are going to write a chapter or section in a manual, you
have your notes, you have other information from engineers or developers.
You send this information to your victim.. errr.. aspiring techie writer,
along with a deadline. You and the would-be-writer both work independently
and simultaneously. When the deadline comes, you look at the would-be's
work, and give him a review of sorts, and also send your completed work to
him so he can see how a professional handled the assignment. I think even
without a "review" from the professional writer, the would-be could learn a
lot from this exercise, just forcing himself to write to a deadline and
completing "real" work of the nature that he would if employed in the field.
I'm curious about doing something like this (and maybe folks on this list
have a better idea) to get a good feel for how I would like technical
writing, and how well I could actually write. I did see the mentorship
program on the web site, but I feel like I'm at a stage prior to any
mentorship.
Some background, for anyone who was interested enough to read this far.
I've worked the last 5 years as an ERP systems consultant, implementing
Oracle Applications software. Before that, I did C-language programming and
database support work. Before that, I did mechanical design on hydraulic
valves (my degree is in mechanical engineering). So, my background is
technical. In my consulting work, I did writing that was somewhat technical
in nature: business process scenarios, system customization design
documents, project charters. I feel I did good work with these, although I
may have a tendency to be a little too detail-oriented.
I do not know software like Pagemaker and Quark, although learning new
software doesn't bother me at all. What I'm concerned with at the moment is
deciding on something I'll be good at and happy with before I jump in.
Thanks for any and all help!
Keith C.
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