Re: ramblings

["Elisa R. Sawyer" <elisawyer -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I learned all of those tools plus some of the lightweight markup languages
including Restructured Text and AsciiDoc.

I love writing and for that reason I resisted pushes towards management and
UI design. I opted for focusing on writing for developer audiences and over
time picked up some skill with scripting and I enjoy tinkering with tools.

Writing is an important part of many professions. I've helped some of my
colleagues improve their writing skills and this gave them confidence in
their own careers.

I kind of like the role of writing coach, something that can be important
when working on documenting APIs. There can be so much work that it can be
important to support some developers in learning how to address their API
users' needs.

I don't see the role of writer going away, but I do see it continuing to
change.

- Elisa

On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 1:21 AM Kalyan Iyer <kalyan -dot- author -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> Dear Scribes,
>
> I began my career as a technical writer in AD 1999. It was a different
> world then; FrameMaker, and an occasional Pagemaker, RoboHelp, Visio, CMVC,
> doc plans, Chicago Manual of Style, Microsoft Manual of Style and Strunk &
> White, peer reviews, manager reviews, waterfall. And I was terrible with
> the use of tools then, as I am from a management background with no
> technical expertise, whatsoever, and dreaded the scathing comments from my
> doc lead, Emily, from Siebel. Monday mornings, well, the less said about
> them, the better.
>
> Then slowly, I began to pick up the ropes and groomed other writers. I got
> a couple of awards at STC in technical writing.
>
> Over the years, I became a senior writer and many of us were asked to
> "become" instructional designers, due to changing business demands at IBM.
> Some of the writers thought it was "below their dignity" to be changing
> tracks. In contrast, IDs were more "snooty" (LOL) and thought the world of
> themselves in terms of goals, objectives, assessments, etc.  There was a
> lot of friction between both teams.
>
> I was more open and managed to wear various hats; instructional designer,
> learning consultant, proposals writer, team lead, and finally Learning &
> Development Project Manager.
>
> I left IBM in 2014 to pursue my passion for writing screenplays and was
> able to have a movie made out of one of my screenplays. Two others have
> been greenlit and I'm contented.
>
> But strangely, I found that screenplays don't take you the whole day and I
> was attracted to technical writing assignments as a freelancer.
>
> By 2020, I found the world totally changed. These days we are talking about
> more friendly language in user manuals, blogs, training videos, Agile, of
> course, JIRA, SharePoint, DITA+ArborText, and whatnot. No one seems to be
> using FM and PM or RoboHelp anymore. I learned to use Madcap Flare and
> earlier I thought oxygen was for breathing but learned that there is a
> writing tool too of that name. We've become more "articulate" with
> Camtasia, several video-building applications, and so on.
>
> At first, I felt like Rip Wan Winkle:-)
>
> But now I'm kind of sorted out now and pick up writing assignments I like
> and that are challenging. I think, "once a technical writer, always a
> technical writer."
>
> Hail!!! Long Live the TW tribe!!!
>
> Thanks
> Kalyan
>
> On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 8:31 AM Suzette Seveny <suzette -dot- seveny -at- gmail -dot- com>
> wrote:
>
> > I think our industry is changing so much that the traditional "technical
> > writer" is going to change as well.
> >
> > For me, it's more than writing user documentation - it is creating user
> > content such as e-learning, training documents and videos, content
> portals,
> > etc.
> >
> > I should be retired but there's so much to learn and I'm having too much
> > fun!
> >
> > Suzette
> >
> > Suzette
> >
> > On Sun., Feb. 19, 2023, 8:05 a.m. Nina Barzgaran, <
> > nina -dot- barzgaran -at- barzgaran -dot- at> wrote:
> >
> > > Nice to see people still use this. I am on and off present.
> > >
> > > Yes, people still do need tech writers, very much so. I am working at a
> > > company who produce fire and security protection, based on IP
> technology
> > > and similar in health care, staff call systems.
> > > My first time as a (technical) writer in such an industry, still
> > > documenting software, mainly. Love it.
> > > Kind colleagues, large(ish) company, globally operating. Very good
> place
> > > to be.
> > >
> > > Previously I wrote in English only (not 'only English' ;) ) but these
> > > days it's mainly German.
> > >
> > > I think, we all make mistakes now and again, notwithstanding being
> > > professionals in our work. Being kind towards others can help - next
> > > time it may be your turn.... :) Isn't it a placement and meaning thing
> > > rather than grammar...?
> > >
> > > I like writing and technology. Always have, always will.
> > >
> > > Love this list/newsletter!
> > >
> > > Thanks all! :)
> > > 'Read you around'
> > > Nina
> > >
> > > Am 19.02.2023 07:50, schrieb Gene Kim-Eng:
> > >
> > > > I retired (again!) last Oct. Fourth time in the past 10 years. Maybe
> > > > this one will stick.
> > > >
> > > > Gene Kim-Eng
> > > >
> > > > On 2/18/2023 6:48 PM, Robert Courtney wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> I retired years ago.
> > > >
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-- 
Elisa Rood Sawyer
~~~~~^~~~~~
Technical and Creative Writer
"Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today." Mark Twain
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