Re: Recommended software for breaking into technical writing

[Bev Lockhart <bl -at- SEATTLELAB -dot- COM>]

FrameMaker, Robohelp, C++, maybe Viso, and Photoshop (so you can create and
minipulate screen shots), and let's see.... how 'bout .... if you know NT
and have your MCSE, you are stylin'!  (Oh, and don't forget Word, the beast
we all love to hate.)  Those are the bare minimums..... If you want to get
into the Web stuff, basic HTML on up through ASP.  (Is that what it's
called?)  Yahoo.

Why would you want to get out of journalism?  I've been in software
documentation for two years, and I am looking to bail (back into
journalism).  Tech writing is the absolutely most boring thing in the
world, and I am certainly going to get flamed for this!

If you like looking at the same boring sh... i mean stuff day after day,
and dealing with engineers who can't speak clearly (or look at you askance
coz you don't understand them) and PMs who are on to the next product,
leaving you in the dust to document their product with very little or no
input, go baby go!  (Oh, and the stress certainly isn't worth it... nor is
the pay as good as everybody claims!)

~~~Bev Lockhart, Documentation Editor for an awesome (but still boring)
software development company
(originator of the one space two space white space threads)

At 01:22 AM 8/13/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Forgive me if this topic has been posted before. (I did do an archive
>search, but may not have used the appropriate search words.)
>
>I'm a newspaper reporter considering a career switch into technical
>writing.  What software and/or programming languages do you recommend I
>learn?  And if you can prioritize them from "must know" to "highly
>recommended," I would appreciate it.
>
>I did ask this of a few tech writers, but would like the input of the
>broader community considering the expense and time commitment of
>acquiring/learning software. Thanks in advance.
>
>From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000==
>
>
>

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=