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Subject:Re: Question: Market for Technical Writing From:James McAward <jmcaward -at- CHYRON -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 25 Jun 1999 10:06:50 -0400
I'm always happy to hear about people from one "world" of writing who want
to broaden their horizons into other areas, be they more lucrative or not.
My sister is, amongst other things, a magazine journalist and fiction
writer. I am a technical writer. Her work is more like painting; mine's
more like carpentry... as a marketing writer, you need to be good enough to
make the reader say "Wow!" about your subject matter. As a technical
writer, you need to be good enough for the reader to accomplish the task at
hand, without ever noticing they were helped along by excellent documentation.
As for qualifications - the candidate tech writer has to have both the
"Grammar Gene" and the "Tool Gene" in their faux genetic makeup. I've
posted this theory before, so I'll save the space... but (in short) the
successful candidate has to be able to spell, and has to be able to use a
screwdriver - these are reliable markers for the required genes.
Best of luck to your friend,
Jim
==========================================
James G. McAward
Manager, Technical Publications & Software Quality Assurance
Chyron Corporation Melville, NY 11747
"Happy is the heart of him who writes; he is young each day."
-----Ptahhotep, Vizier to Isesi, Fifth Egyptian Dynasty, 2300 BC
