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.
The realization that after many years of being a technical writer, albeit a
good one with a variety of experience including desigining and developing
web-based help systems, I'm still "just a tech writer" hit me like a smack
in the face today. Even though I am involved on the project team through
the entire process (starting with the proposal and continuing through to the
delivery of the application to the customer), my skills are still only
listed on the project plan as the technical writer. It doesn't matter that
I help the proposal writer identify missing pieces, that I can find gaps in
the requirements documents, that I can add the user's perspective to the
interface design, or that I can write test cases. I'm still only the
technical writer.
Silly me, I thought that the flexibility and diversity of my participation
would provide me with some additional credentials. After I had this
epiphany today, and subsequently stopped feeling sorry for myself, I also
realized that I need to be a tech writer/something. I think I'd like to get
more involved in the analysis/requirements process that is associated with
software development.
Do any of you perform in this role? If so, what kind of education and
experience do you have? I would greatly appreciate any insight you might be
able to provide.
Thanks in advance.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by April 30. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
Buy RoboHelp Office in May and you'll save $100 with our mail-in rebate.
Or switch from Doc-to-Help or ForeHelp to RoboHelp Office for only $499.
Get the help authoring tool PC magazine recently awarded a perfect score!
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
