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:What does a tech writer do? From:Doug White <dougw -at- VIC -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 9 Sep 1997 11:07:27 -0500
Well, one thing I don't do, and have never done, is documentation or any
work related to the computer industry. This is certainly not the experience
of the majority of the profession, however.
I have BA degrees in History and English, and an MA in journalism. My
original goal was to be a reporter, but then I found out what reporters
earn. A desultory path led me in 1988 to a job in technical writing and
editing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) (a U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) research facility -- not a weapons lab, as they will be quick
to tell you). Let me state clearly that I never worked in any
weapons-related program; my work was exclusively devoted to addressing the
environmental legacy of 50 years of nuclear research and weapons-related
production activities.
I spent 3 years with the ORNL Office of (human health) Risk Analysis. My
colleagues were mainly geologists, environmental scientists, environmental
engineers, and toxicologists. During that time the entire U.S. DOE Oak
Ridge Reservation (consisting of ORNL, the Y-12 Plant (formerly a
prodcution facility for nuclear weapons components), and the K-25 Site
(formerly a uranium enrichment facility which produced fuel for nuclear
power plants until 1985 and, until 1964, enriched uranium for nuclear
weapons) was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National
Priorities List, making the entire 34,000 acre (mostly forested)
reservation a Superfund site. That designation imposed a spate of statutory
requirements, including requirements for a program of community
relations/public participation/public involvement related to environmental
decision-making in association with environmental cleanup and restoration
efforts on the reservation. I was in the right place at the right time and
landed a job with the Community Relations program, where I worked for 5
years before pursuing self-employment.
In short, my 10 year career in technical communication has centered around
risk communication. I have edited, written, designed and desktop-published
a wide range of information products: writing, editing, and abstracting
regulatory reports, creating public information fact sheets, display ads to
encourage attendance/involvement in public meetings, newsletters, briefing
books, web content, scripting videos, and more. My work also involved
leading day-long and quite technical tours of the reservation and cleanup
projects, organizing public meetings, focus groups, citizen advisory
boards, and media relations. In short, my work was a mixture of
technical/scientific communication and public affairs.
Doug White
Cold Mountain Communication
P.O. Box 123
Heiskell, TN 37754
423/463-7861 (voice & fax)
dougw -at- vic -dot- com
--OR--
73257 -dot- 711 -at- compuserve -dot- com
Just another sybarite searching for a sinecure.
___________________________________________________
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
