Thinking of starting a career as a Technical Writer? I’ve worked in Technical Writing for over fifteen years, mostly as a freelancer. Here’s an outline of a typical day when working from home.

FYI – I wrote this last thing at night, so the grammar may not be perfect. But, it will give you an idea of what’s involved if you’re thinking of moving into technical communications.

A Day in the Life of a Home Based Technical Writer

My day starts at 6.05 and finishes around11pm. I’m online 7 days a week. How do I survive? I often wonder, myself…

A little background

I’ve been in technical writing for 15 years. I remember when Windows was just, you guessed it, little windows. I started with Aldus PageMaker, before Adobe bought it, and then moved onto Corel and other DTP packages.

After leaving theUK, I moved toSacramento, different parts ofCalifornia, then back toAmsterdam,Dublin,London(again), thenShanghai, and nowBeijing. I also work inIreland.

Ok, so that’s me.

Technical Setup for Writing

Technical writing in your pajamas. Well, maybe not actually in my pajamas — does anyone still buy these? — I do work from home.

Here’s my technical setup:

• LG pc – this is souped up to the gills. I have it assembled when inShanghaiand it has oodles of memory, hard drives, etc. It has never crashed!
• 1^st Dell laptop – super large (too big, to be honest) with Visio, Adobe FrameMaker and other tech document stuff.
• 2^nd Dell laptop for light surfing

Finding Freelance Technical Writing Work

How I get work? Three ways: referrals, legacy customers and consultancy.

Tip #1 Long standing customers is where the money is.

Chasing new leads/projects etc is a fool’s game. There may be short term gains, but in the long run (e.g. when a recession kicks in) it’s your ‘old reliables’ that keep things ticking over.

New referrals come in all the time. But these can be problematic. People want, for example, web-based  help  written up.

No problem?

But they don’t have the product ready yet, so you can’t see what needs to be documented.

Or they think the  specs/screens etc may change in mid-project. Will this change the price?

Or they want you to use Flash to develop a knowledge-base. Why not use SQL? They like Flash; it’s cool.

You can waste a lot of time with these type of customers. We call them ‘tyre-kickers’ at home. They want to buy the car, but never get past the tyre kicking stage.

Technical Writing Consultancy

This is a mix. People want advice on tool to use, need a fresh set of eyes to check a document set, interview junior tech writers or partner them on a new project.

This is happening quite a bit.  Say a web developer is going for a project (e.g. bidding for a contract) and needs a web writer/technical writer onboard. I sign up as the partner and do the documents when they come on-stream.

If you link up with reliable partners, this can be a nice little earner. So, what’s my day like.

Home Based Technical Writer- Typical working day

6.05

Alarm goes off at 6.00. Snooze. Up at 6.05.

I have 40 min to check email before the family wake up. Remember most of my clients are in theUS, so it’s their afternoon. This 40 min is often the most frantic time of the day. Someone somewhere has a problem – it’s always urgent – and I have less than half an hour to fix it. Once the crew get up, it’s just not possible. We live in a v nice apt — but there is no hiding place.

Check Email

I have 5 email addresses. I get between 40-120 emails per day. The highest was 700 when I got spammed.

• I check the business emails in order of priority.
• Business 1, Business 2, and then Business 3.
• I scan each box, delete  junk, open what’s left. Many of my responses are 1-2 lines.

Tip #2

When writing emails, use numbered lists to break-out the message, e.g.

1. To convert the Adobe FrameMaker files I need the source files by Tuesday.
2. I will need the graphics by Monday inTIFformat
3. It will be ready by Thursday
4. The price is 300 USD
5. Who do I invoice? What’s their email address?

When answering emails, use lists to break out each answer. The reason I do this is that people will often answer the first question and skip the others. Then you have to chase them for the other information. Time is money when you work for yourself. Structure your emails so that it’s easier for customers (and potential customers) to give you all the information you need in one go.

Tip #3 – I NEVER check Yahoo or Gmail before the business emails are finished.

Food. Porridge with walnuts & soybean mix to start. A quick look at the clock and I see how much I can do before their alarm goes off.

Tip #4

Many emails are similar.

“I’ve lost a file, can you make a conf call, how much do you charge etc.”

To speed things up, I have a text file (no formatting) with the answers to the most common queries.

This saves hours every month. They all need to be modified to so degree but the bones of the response is there. Fingers crossed that I get the real urgent stuff taken care off before…

6.45

Lights on and they’re awake!

As I’m already pumped up (terrible isn’t it?) I rally the troops and get things moving. One of the downsides of micro-managing your business (depending on how you look at it, I guess) is that it tends to spill over to your home life — everything becomes a task, a deadline, a target.  I try to lighten up. Sometimes we’re late for school. It’s fine.

Eat, shower, shave, arrange school bag, find missing sneaker, feed goldfish, coax pet crickets from their sleep/suspended animation and we’re off on the school run. Get back by 8.

School day are long inAsia(7.30 – 4.45 most days) so I get a good amount done. InEuropethis was more of a problem as we had endless teacher training days, mid-term, bank hols etc. Here, it’s go, go, go.

8.00

2 coffees, toast, soccer news, yahoo etc and then close them all at 8.15.

I take lots of ‘mini breaks’ thru the day but keep them all to 10 min or so.

Tip #5 Close the web browser and email. Otherwise, I’m peaking all the time. I know myself. Stay focused.

8.15

I work in short bursts between 8.15 and 11.

I use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my projects. It’s very simple. Nothing fancy. When under pressure, or knowing that I’m sliding, I print it out as a reminder.

“This is what you have to do, Ivan.”

Tip #6 Working by/for yourself is like dealing with a child. You have to be patient and firm. Little treats and threats both seem to works.

And I reward myself!

When things go well I splurge on a book that I usually wouldn’t buy. Steven Pinker, the Language Instinct is my next treat. Expensive over here.

Setting up interviews

I interview people for this site; it’s one of the most popular sections. Low-tech viral marketing.

I enjoy these interactions as it gives me a chance to meet others, by email and Skype admittedly, and get some insights into how they work.

You think you know so much. But then when you talk to others, you realize, there are so many areas you need to catch up on.

Tip #7

I started writing the questions for this interview at 9.25 (Emails took from 7.55-9.15. Much longer than I thought) and finished at 10.10.

But, here’s the thing.

How should I send it to him? Email, word, on the net?

The Word document I used was pretty bland. Ok, but not much else.

So, I spend 15 min formatting the document (actually tweaking my invoice template). Now it looks 10 x better.

Tip #8

If you want to succeed as a consultant/freelancer etc, you have to go the extra yard ALLTHE TIME. There is so much competition out there, you really have to stand out.

My work varies. This week it involves:

• Writing standard operating procedures
• Converting documents from Word to Adobe FrameMaker
• Creating templates
• Business process work.

Visio is by far my fav tool; creating process maps, state chart diagrams, flowcharts etc is a doddle.

Like I said earlier, I work in short bursts. Maybe 20-30 min and then stop.

It’s important to stand up, get away from the pc and stretch.  Most technical writers end up suffering from lower back, next and eye problems. Which brings us nicely to….

11.00

I have a choice: swim or run.

My aim is to burn up 500 calories per day. I alternate between the thread-mill (even though I hate to run) and the pool (where I love the freezing cold water – the colder the better. BRRRR).

Tip #9

Small Observation

Some of my clearest thinking is in the pool. Maybe this is the only time I really can reflect on the business. No questions, phones, to-do lists. I now carry a small notebook and jot down ideas that pop up.

Chris Brogan mentioned that when on a cruise in Mexico, he had very clear insights  into where he should take his business.

So, while I go swimming too get away from work, oddly enough these are often my most ‘fruitful’ hours. But remember: write it down. Otherwise, it’s gone.

12

This is part 2 of my day; the halfway point.

From here until 4.38 (I leave on the dot) I continue to work on project

but…

I find it hard to kick-start so soon after the gym/pool. To get around this, I do graphic, diagrams, videos  etc. Visual work is a nice counter-balance to the writing.

Tip #10

I know I’m not the greatest technical writer in the world. But my documents LOOK great.

This is something to consider if you plan to go freelance. The accuracy, quality etc of your material is one thing (arguably the most important) but the packaging makes a huge difference.

I’ve seem people’s eyes light up when they saw a really sharp user guide land on their desk.

Tip #11

Use high-quality paper for the Cover Page if you’re going to give it to the boss. Even if you have to buy it yourself, do it. It feels good.

When you’re a consultant, people like to feel you’re worth the money.

Don’t go cheap. You can claw back the pennies elsewhere.

4.38

School run. Literally.

5.05

Back at the PC.

Work until 7ish or whenever dinner is ready.

Go swim (again) with junior, or cycle, walk, dvd, draw, whatever until bedtime.

9.00

Back at the PC.

Work until 11ish.

The last lap is light admin activities, Snagit work, and planning for tomorrow.

I try to avoid writing technical docs late in the evening as it takes too much brain power. The next day, I’m shattered.

Say goodnight to the crickets, gold-fish, lock the door and then off to bed with a book. Tonight I’m reading Margey Allingham, the Coroner’s Pidgin. Wonderful turn of phrase and great story lines.

Check that the alarm is set.

That’s it!

How many hours a day do you work as a freelance technical writer? What’s the hardest part of the job?

What is Technical Writing?

If you want to know, come back to the site next week and we’ll have the answer

To quote Van Halen, ‘everybody wants some.’ And what you want is traffic. Why write a blog if no-one visits, right? I have 17 technical writers’ blogs in my Google Reader & RSS feeds. Most are fine but… if they used some of the following tactics, they’d get more traffic, comments, money and Nobel prizes. Well, three out of four, anyway.

How To Get More Traffic To Your Technical Writing Blog

Apply five of these tactics and your traffic will double. No kidding, it will!

How To Get More Traffic #1: Add Your Photos

Look at your favorite technical writing blogs. How many faces do you see? Why are they all hiding? I dunno. Stick your mugshot on the page so we can see what you look like! Go on! None of us are Brad Pitt or Paris Hilton, so add a picture. Don’t be shy. People like to read about people they know. If they can’t see you…

How To Get More Traffic #2: Video

I’m no spring chicken, so if I can do it, you can. All of these video were taken on a Canon powershot.

Videos let people hear you, see your expression, feel what you’re trying to say in ways that words cannot. Making videos is easier that you think. I use Camtasia 6 for all its sins. (read my frustrated Camtasia 6 review here.)

How To Get More Traffic #3: Social Media Outposts

Use Social Media for maximum impact. With web content publishing tools like Posterous you can get the message out to all these channels with almost no effort. Posterous lets you post once, publish everywhere. Try it.

• Ivan: http://www.ivanwalsh.com
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ivanwalsh
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ivanwalsh
• Business Week http://bx.businessweek.com/profile/ivan-walsh/iwalsh905/
• And also on Disqus, Flickr, LinkedIn, Delicious and Google Reader

How To Get More Traffic #4: Quizzes

We all get tired of checking for split infinitives and looking for typos, so lighten things up. Add quizzes to get people involved… and try to be a little different.

• Did you ever download software illegally?
• What’s your manager’s most annoying habit?
• Would you let your boss friend you on Facebook?
• Do you know any technical writing who can reverse park? (I was going to say Women but then turned on my brain! That was so close!)
• Do you know any men who ask for directions when lost? One for the girls, no doubt.

How To Get More Traffic #5: Comics

May not work for all sites but comics are a nice break from technical documents and other heavy reading. Why do you think they are so popular? Every serious newspaper has them, why not you?

How To Get More Traffic #6: Reviews

If they come to your site, it’s your opinion they are after. So, why don’t you give it?

#1 cardinal sin of most blogs is that they have no opinion!

Don’t be scared! I’m with you! Give your honest opinion (try not to rant or swear) and you’ll see people will respond very quickly.

#2 cardinal sin of most blogs… bland!

If your blog echoes the rest of the crowd, well, why should I come back? Stick your neck out, even a little. Some people were upset that I dissed Camtasia but y’know I’d be lying if I said it worked!

How To Get More Traffic #7: Trends

Pssst! Did you know that… everyone wants to be in the know. Keep your readers up to date. Use graphs, charts and diagrams. See Brain Solis and Information in Beautiful for inspiration.

How To Get More Traffic #8: Lists

It doesn’t have to stop at 10. Here are a few list of get started:

• 21 Left Handed Technical Writers
• 7 Reasons Why Adobe FrameMaker Sucks But You Still Need to Buy It
• 12 Honest Ways to Get a Pay Rise
• 5 Ways To Give An Honest Appraisal
• 28 Ways to Proofred a Technical Documant
• 1 Good Reason to Join the STC
• 18 Mistakes Technical Writers Make Before Breakfast
• 9 Ways to Evaluate a Help Authoring Tool

How To Get More Traffic #9: How-to guides

Ok, the technical stuff comes last. If you’re going to offer technical advice (and you should!) identify the problem, explain how to fix it, and then ask for questions or comments.

#3 cardinal sin of blogging is… blogger doesn’t interact with readers. Ask for comments. If you have a Facebook page, give them the link and connect there. Use Twitter? Create lists for technical writers and add them. Like these lists I created for technical writers and creativity.

• Adobe FrameMaker list http://twitter.com/ihearttechdocs/adobeframemaker
• Creativity list http://twitter.com/ihearttechdocs/creativity
• Technical writing software http://twitter.com/ihearttechdocs/technicalwritingsoftware

Share, share, share!

What ya think! Fire away below.

Scott, over on Words on a Page, says, “If you want to improve as a writer, you not only need to write. You need to read. Writing and reading are two sides of the same coin. You need to do both to achieve your potential.” I head downtown most weekends and buy 2 or 3 books, mostly business, history and some fiction. Every so often I run out of options (we’re in Beijing) and get something I usually wouldn’t buy, for example, Iain M Banks. Reading outside my comfort zone stretches me. I encounter writing styles, opinions, and  information that I usually side-step.

Scott adds that by reading, ‘you’re exposing yourself to different voices and viewpoints. And you can pick up some new techniques. Not only that, you get a great opportunity to see what other writers are doing well and what they’re doing badly.’ This brings me to dear ol’ Stephen King.

How Stephen King Made Me A Better Technical Writer

I’ve read Stephen King (on and off) since I was a teenager-almost 30 years. After going through Jack London, King Arthur and HG Wells, he was the first modern author that I read.

What did I like most?

The tension, crisp writing and little details that sucked you right in. You had to read on. Would Cujo eat the small child? Most of this was horror, something I grew out of after high school.

But he also wrote another book, On Writing.

If you’re interested in the mechanics of writing, get your hands on this. For me, it’s his best book — and I wish he’d go back and read it.

Why?

Because it teaches you how to write tight prose, remove the waffle, and stay focused. All the things I try to do as a technical writer.I hope he’ll turn a corner someday which is why I give him so many second chances…

What am I reading now?

I tend to mix and match. I have a stack of books next to my bed and dip in and out.

Some are:

• Groundswell, Social Media book
• Built to Last – what makes companies success over the long term
• Stephen King – Duma Key, really lame, especially after his early stuff
• Graham Greene is always a pleasure. Our Man in Havana is a favorite
• Plato’s Apology
• Genghis Khan bio, life in ancient Mongolia
• Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale
• Iain M Banks – pretentious drivel! I had such high hopes. Philip K Dick is the best sci-fi writer for me.
• Catch 22 – ok, bit dated
• Al Ries, Focus and the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
• Tom Peters, Peter Drucker and Seth Godin are all there too.

Seth’s writing style is, for me, the best out there right now, at least in the business world. Tight, crisp, and funny. No words wasted.

I rarely buy magazines anymore as most are close to 5 euro in Europe. Instead I pony with the difference and get some books.

How about you? What are you reading?

I upgraded to Camtasia 6 at the weekend (from v4) mostly to import and edit .MOV files. These are created by my faithful Canon Powershot when I shot videos. Sony makes AVIs. The other reason was to do more heavy lifting with Camtasia. I have tons on material on the hard-disk and want to get these into screencasts. So, what the verdict?

Review Camtasia 6

Price – $149 not cheap but not as expensive as Adobe Premiere.

Key features

• Import and edit MOV files
• Independent audio edits (saves me doing audio in Audacity)
• 3D tilt (can’t find where to do this, yet) and oodles of
• Special effects

The good – What I liked

The user interface is nice, no nutty changes a Ia Microsoft Office and ribbon bars

Presets for blog, YouTube etc means it will help you produce files that best suit these formats. For simple videos, this is fine. You can do your own monkeying around as well, e.g. change frame rates.

the bad – What I don’t like

Audio enhancements are hit and miss. Sometimes makes the voice lovely and rich (hey, why not!) other times I sound like I’m under-water.

Number of un-dos seems limited. I love to un-do.

the ugly – real Problems

Freezes with files over 4 MB. These are (for me) small files, so I need to reboot all the time. Big problem. (What memory do I have? 80 GB of hard disk and 2 GB of RAM – thought that would be ok.) This is a killer. Files more than 3MB cause Camtasia to freeze. What this means is that when I try to make an AVI, MP4 or MOV for YouTube, the thing locks, usually at 19-25%. Close all apps, re-boot and try again. No joy.

Smartfocus won’t start – Camtasia thinks I’m using an older version, e.g. v5, and so won’t start it. I’m on 6. Can’t get it to work. See the error message.

MOVs won’t import – this is a horror! According to the site ‘Large MOV files not importing into Camtasia. Camtasia will crash or give a no codec message upon importing. This is a known issue that will be fixed in a future release. As a workaround, try creating smaller MOV files from other programs when bringing them into Camtasia.’ I’ve done this and still no luck. Off to contact Tech Support.

MP4s won’t import – No Codec available error message. Contact Tech Support.

FWIW I download all the codes I can find on the site, re-boot and… no joy.

What to do next?

Not sure. Have downloaded all the codecs I can find, re-booted the pc, cleared the cache, closed all apps and sent some emails to Techsmith. Now, I’m waiting…

Can you help?

If you’ve had these type of issues, can you let me know what you did to fix this?

Most people think it’s difficult start a career as a business consultant. I used to think the same in my early 20s when I started in IT. In retrospect, I should have made more efforts to establish myself as a consultant earlier; the benefits certainly outweigh the downsides. As luck would have it, I was forced into a consultancy role when I lost my 9-5 job. Time to learn to hustling and bring in business. Harvard Business Review refers to it as The Hustle Strategy. More on that later.

3 Types of Consultant

Before we start, there are 3 types of consultants:

1. Academic — those with academic achievements, e.g. PhDs, who are brought in to solve/explore/test problems. Their skills match the problem at hand. So you have it or you don’t.
2. Management — those with senior management skills, such as in M&A, legal, international business development and
3. Solutions — this includes the broad spectrum of 9-workers who’ve ‘repositioned’ their skills, want to work for themselves and/or have others working for them. This, I assume, it where you fit in. It’s where most consultant start out.

How to get started as a Consultant

The next question is: how do I get started? Here’s one way of approaching it.

1. Focus — identify your top 3 skills (not technologies). Be honest. If someone put a gun to your head and said “what are the three things you do best?”, then you’d say ”what I do best is…”
2. How do you see yourself — write a pen portrait (100 words max) of how you see yourself. So, if you were introducing yourself person to someone at a conference, you’d say “Hi, this is Amanda she,….” Remember, focus on the benefits you offer, not the tools. Tip – Start to visualize the person/consultant you want to become.
3. Role Models — identify 3 business leaders and use them as role models. For me, Richard Branson is a good example, for you it might be someone else. Read everything about these people, soak up how they made it. It’s not in the words of their bio – but the energy, the drive they had. Having a role model gives you a frame of reference, something to use as a compass/anchor.
4. Meet and Greet — Contact 10 people who are in a similar position as yourself. Meet up, for example, on a Saturday afternoon and see how you can help each other. Remember, you’re looking to link up with people for the long haul. Ignore the tire-kickers. Find 1 or 2 decent people that you trust and keep connecting with them.
5. Be the Glue — Define one common goal with these folks and make it happen. For example, aim to run an event, workshop, training course (whatever) by a specific date. You have to have targets, otherwise nothing will happen. It will just be talking shop.
6. Action Plan — doesn’t need to be fancy. List what needs to be done, assign names, and dates.
7. Examine your USP – I know this sounds lame but you have to differentiate yourself from the competition. This is the key. If you become ‘that guy’ who does, for example, Facebook training, Social Media business communications, Proposal development for biotechnology or whatever, then laser focus on this. Your aim is to dominate this one area. You have to become ‘that guy’.
8. Promotion — once you’ve all your ducks lined up, start getting the message out. Write guest articles in blogs, contribute to events, share information on LinkedIn, send free White Papers to people in your target market – do whatever it takes to promote yourself (and your colleagues) so that you become you become ‘that girl’. Girls, when I say ‘that guy’ I mean both guys and girls. You know that, right?
9. Personal branding – get your site, business cards, sharp suit etc in place. People still judge on appearances. If you look successful…
10. Network — Look for places to get out and meet people. People do business with people they meet. Again, it doesn’t have to be fancy. Find fast ways to meet up and find out where it’s happening.
11. Stick to the plan — If you keep this up for 3 months, you’ll change your perception of who you are and also by meeting people, you’ll learn new things. While the web is great, the human touch is what counts.
12. Follow the leader — Tom Peters, Chris Brogan, Richard Branson, ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ have all helped me in different ways.

Tip – if you’re a single mom, link up with other parents who want to run their own business and take turns minding each other’s kids:  that way you both get one night a week to get out there and network.

Chris Brogan made a very interesting observation recently when he said that he tries to be there ‘before the fire starts’. What he meant was that everyone wants to help (i.e. sell you something) when things go wrong but it’s the people you know before it happened that count. I bet there you’ve been in that similar situation yourself. It’s the people you already know that you trust. See: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust

One last thing – the harder you try, the luckier you get. Take it one step at a time. Remember the turtle and the hare. Use everyday opportunities as ways to close the gap between where you are and where you want to go.

What’s your first step?

What advice would you give to those who want to start as a Business Consultant? What’s the one mistake they must avoid? What’s the best tip you ever got on starting your own business?

Carsten Mende explains how loan words are used in China and Japan. These are English words that are commonly used in everyday Chinese, (i.e. loaned) but may not translate correctly if taken literally. He looks at how the ‘Chinese and Japanese languages incorporate English terms and how they are used’ and gives suggestions on what to avoid when translating documentation into these languages.

Difference between English, Chinese and Japanese syllables

He starts by showing the different between how syllables are created in these languages. And as someone who has studied Chinese for a few years, it’s both fascinating and frustrating. Oranges and apples, so to speak.

Latin – allows ‘numerous variations for combining letters and the amount of syllables is extremely large. English has more than 11,000 syllables.

Chinese and Japanese is very different: Chinese (Mandarin) is written in characters; each reflects a syllable and not a single letter.

Adopting loan words in Chinese and Japanese

He shows three mechanisms for the adaptation of English words in both languages:

• Phonemic way
• Semantic way
• Adaptation without any transformation

For example: Coffee 咖啡 ka fei

Suggestions

He cautions that when translating or transferring into a foreign language, ‘even obvious things may shape up as something completely different. So you should always treat your customer attentively, take him seriously and be prepared to communicate in his mother tongue.’

Read Carsten Mende here

Opportunities

The quality of technical documentation in China is often very poor. It’s not for lack of trying, rather they lack experience technical writers and have had little exposure to international audiences.

For foreigners this represents a huge opportunity. Technical writers who can come to China and test the waters could do very well. The pay is increasing all the time and the cost of living significantly lower than elsewhere.

Fancy moving?

Gina Blednyh launched the Technical Communication 2.0 group in Facebook in 2009. It explores the interplay between Web 2.0 and technical communication. It’s a terrific place to exchange ideas about collaborative technologies and new approaches to delivering information. In this interview, I ask her how Technical Writers can use Social Media and the types of content they are likely to deliver.

How Social Media Will Make You A Better Technical Writer

Ivan: Could you tell us about how you got started in technical writing?

Gina: I majored in English, but prior to that I worked for a software company. The field just seemed like an excellent fit for me.

Ivan: You’ve setup a new group for technical writers on Facebook. Could you tell us about this group? How does it differ from a BBS, for example?

Gina: Truthfully, I never participated in a BBS, though I used to lurk. For me, one of the primary differences is the openness and ease of use of a Facebook group–it’s not "just for geeks."

Since I just began the Technical Communication 2.0 group recently, I’m not sure yet if it’s the best way to go. For example, perhaps a group on another social networking site would be more effective. But we’ve had some good discussions already and people are posting useful information.

Ivan: Brian Solis recently said that Social Media will soon become Media. It will no longer be seen as a fad. What impact will Social Media have on how technical writer work?
Gina: Wow–this is a big question! And folks far more knowledgeable than me can provide a better answer. My take is that we technical writers might need to abandon certain ideas of who participates in developing good documentation.

We might also need to expand our ideas of where technical documentation resides.  For example, a community centered around a product might include documentation, conversations between users, and feedback (positive and negative) from these users about the documentation. I don’t see this as "bad" for technical writers, however.

If a community includes both positive and negative comments and is well managed, the result can be more customer satisfaction and far better material. I don’t believe that traditional Help systems and documentation will go away entirely, though.

Ivan: What other technical writers inspire you or help give direction to the way you work?

Gina: I’ve been lucky to work with some wonderful writers and mentors! The ones who inspire me actively engage with the profession but also think about opportunities outside of it.

They embrace change and think about ways that technical communicators can better partner with other departments. Basically, they look forward and don’t waste time reminiscing about how things were done "back in the day."

Ivan: Looking into your crystal ball, how do you see technical writing changing in the next five years?

Gina: Oy Vey! Another big question! I do see technical communicators producing more videos. And in general, I think that we will need to embrace the "technical" part of our job titles more than ever. Offering specialized knowledge will likely be an important quality to offer employers.

Technical Communication 2.0

You can find Gina in the Technical Communication 2.0 group in Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=208713908443

Your Thoughts?

What do you think? Does Social Media pose a threat to the future of technical writers or can we use it to our advantage? Share your thoughts below.

It’s not the questions you ask that matters, it’s the way you ask them. Technical writers, business analysts, and developers all ask questions. They want answers. And some are better than others. Some ask many times to get the definitive answers. Others think they have the answer but, on closer inspection, have overlooked some vital point. So, how do you ask the right questions?

How to Run Structured Interviews & Improve Task Analysis

When working on business transformation and outsourcing projects, I’d spend endless hours interviewing people.

The more I did it, the more mistakes I saw in my interviewing techniques.

I wasn’t getting the answers I wanted. I was losing time and getting bogged down with thorny SMEs. My manager suggested I look at Structured Interview techniques.

• Structured Interviews are a quantitative research method commonly employed in survey research. It helps ensure that each interview is presented with exactly the same questions in the same order. We used it for Process Design work and developing Action Plans.
• Answers can be reliably aggregated and comparisons made with confidence between sample subgroups or between different survey periods.
• Structured interviews allow you to collect data for a statistical survey, for example, data can be collected by an interviewer rather than through a self-administered questionnaire.
• Standardizes the order in which questions are asked of survey respondents, so the questions are always answered within the same context.
• Minimizes the impact of context effects, where the answers given to a survey question can depend on the nature of preceding questions.
• Used as a qualitative research methodology. These types of interviews suit focus group studies in which it helps to compare/contrast participant responses in order to answer a research question.
• For structured qualitative interviews, interviewers develop an interview schedule which lists the wording and sequencing of questions.

Later, I organized workshops on Structured Interviews where we showed Business Analysts how to interview SMEs and glean the information they needed.

How To Ask Questions for Technical Documentation

Tom Johnson also discusses how to ask questions, for example, to define the topics for an application, ‘Regardless of how many topics you decide to include in your help, asking questions is a tool that can serve you well in all areas of life.’ http://www.idratherbewriting.com/2010/02/17/the-art-of-asking-questions/

How To Ask Questions

Some things to consider are:

• When to ask Open v Closed questions, i.e. which is the most appropriate.
• How to interview groups, i.e. how to ensure that quieter types get heard and not bullied/intimidated at workshops and
• How to verify what the person said is what they actually meant to say..

The final one is much more difficult than you’d think.

How do you interview people?

What mistakes do technical writers make when interviewing? Do they ask too many questions? Or assume they have the information? How do you cope with difficult people at interviews?

The WritersUA User Assistance has published details of its 2009 Salary Survey results, which includes a breakdown of salaries for technical writers and others in the tech comms field.

The average U.S. salary is $79,515 – 4% increase from last year. Salaries range from $14,000 to $190,000 and fall into the following quartile groupings:

Salary Group       Salary

Lower quartile    $14-62

Second quartile  $63-78

Third quartile      $79-92

Top quartile        $93-190

Note: the WritersUA constituency is 10,000+ and probably is a fair representation of the overall user assistance community. The survey was also announced on user groups related to technical communication and user assistance.

Read the full report here: http://www.writersua.com/surveys/salary10/index.html

I was surprised to see people earn up to 190k. It would be interesting to know what type of technical skills, experience these writers have. It would also be interesting to see if daily rates have gone up or down.

So, where do fit into this? Are you surprised by these finding? Let us know below.