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Subject:Maths vs Writing (Long text) From:Margaret Penman <Margaret -dot- Penman -at- ITS -dot- CSIRO -dot- AU> Date:Fri, 11 Nov 1994 19:15:16 +1100
I really wanted to be a graphic artist.... but didn't have the talent.
I really wanted to be a creative writer... but didn't have the talent.
I liked biology and was good at algebra....but knew that maths/science was
definitely not my forte!
Technical writing didn't really exist in Australia 20 years ago (although
some will argue that point) and I thought journalism was just writing for
newspapers which didn't appeal.
So I made a half-hearted attempt at a Humanities degree, majoring in
Japanese and Anthropology, which I later deferred and never completed.
After spending 10 years in the paper-mines (administration) and 4.5 years on a
helpdesk I lucked into techwriting for the IT industry and found I was good
at it.
BUT...wouldn't it be nice to have a science degree and be a science
writer/communicator (Sigh).
Perhaps I suffer from "the grass is greener" syndrome but I envy everyone of
you who has such qualifications. The subject matter could be so interesting,
quite apart from being a vital part in having an technologically well informed
population. Important stuff for the future Eh!
Ah well, that's my sob-herstory ... I'm going home to my other life.
Regards,
Margaret Penman
(Maybe I should write science fiction instead of just reading it. Hum....)
margaret -dot- penman -at- its -dot- csiro -dot- au