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.
Subject:Re: Boring Discussions From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- EXPERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 14 Dec 1995 13:09:19 -0800
At 9:28 AM 12/12/95, Jim T. Lindsey wrote:
>Dear Willard:
>Welcome to the world. Tech writing *is* boring but it pays well and can be
>done well if the professionals pay attention. Boring is not necessarily
>bad, once your head stops spinning. Relax. Nothing happens.
I dunno where you work, Jim, but I wonder how any job for which the
basic description is "learn stuff and tell other people about it"
could ever get boring. I've been a tech writer since 1983, and in
all that time, I've had one job that lasted long enough for me to
get bored -- and the main reason why I got bored on that job was
that I wasn't able to expand the job the way I wanted to. Had I
been given the leeway to increase my job responsibilities the way
I wanted to, I'd probably still be there.
I answered Willard directly -- about the way discussions on techwr-l
sometimes get boring. That was my take on the point of his message. I
didn't think he was inferring that tech writing itself was boring, only
that we (well, some of us) sometimes are. ;-)
As far as the *profession* is concerned, I've done a lot of things to
put food on the table and a roof over my head, and tech writing is
the least boring of any of them!
Just my $.02
Sue Gallagher
Expersoft Corporation
San Diego, CA
sgallagher -at- expersoft -dot- com
