RE: Motivation and satisfaction in technical writing

["Lydia Wong" <lydiaw -at- fpoint -dot- com>]

Mariana writes that she is starting to lose her motivation in technical
writing.

That's interesting, Mariana, because I have come to the same conclusion.
After looking at job possibilities/career paths for several years, and
always feeling like nothing was quite what I wanted, I came to the final
decision that this career, rewarding as it has been, is not for me any more.
Therefore, I'm going to do something else.

You might end up feeling the same way, Mariana, eventually. Two years isn't
too long in the profession, though, so I'd urge you to try other jobs in the
field (it can be amazingly diverse) before making your decision.

As for me, I decided that technical writing isn't personally rewarding
enough for me. I want to work more closely with people, because I find that
to be more rewarding than sending off documentation that I hope will help
people, but I don't know. So, I'm starting school in the fall to switch
careers to be a speech therapist. Will it be right for me? I hope so. We'll
see. I feel that it might be more rewarding (again, for me).

Part of choosing careers is learning to know oneself and your own
motivations. That's a lifelong pursuit, but part of that is realizing others
can't answer that question for you.

If you're really not sure about your career path, Mariana, I'd urge you to
read some books (one I've found very useful lately is "Do What You Are"
which reviews career choices based on Meyers-Briggs personality types), take
some career and personality tests, and ask yourself a lot of questions: what
do *I* enjoy? what motivates *me*? what do I do that at the end of the day I
feel charged and up rather than drained? All these questions can help you
learn what motivates you, which is the really important question.

Good luck, Mariana!

Lydia
---------------------------------------
Lydia Wong
Technical Writer
FarPoint Technologies, Inc.
www.fpoint.com




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