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?

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.

Kai raised an interesting point about which skill (writing/technical) takes longer to master. Knowing how to structure and present information to users? Or knowing how to use a product or application? That got me thinking. If you want to make money as a technical writer, which area should you focus on? Sharpen your writing skills or deepen your technical knowledge, for example, learning how to document an API?

Which Technical Writers Makes The Most Money

I think there is more money if you have deep technical knowledge rather than strong writing skills.

Kai’s point is, “…it’s always been easier and faster to learn a product/app. So knowing about structuring and presenting information has been the more valuable skill in a writer – and the rarer one, too, that’s much harder to learn from colleagues!

So I agree with David: “… it’s easier for a good non-technical writer with an interest in technology to become a good technical writer, than it is for a good engineer to become one.”

… and with Ivan, that writers can make up deficiencies with interest: “… if someone has an interest in sharing how the technology works, then they will go the extra mile…”

<I think the real issue is this: Which essential skill takes longer to master?

I have to admit, that’s a very good way of looking at it. I hadn’t actually thought of it in those terms.

• My take is that it’s easier to develop language/writing skills… or at least to develop them to a level where you can perform your duties as a technical writer.
• With technology it’s more complex as (at least for me) I’m always learning. Even in areas where I have considerable knowledge, I still find that I’m learning and finding better ways of doing things.
• When I started out my writing skills were rather ‘unsophisticated’ and that’s being kind. But, I knew how to program (Cobol, C, Fortran) and landed some nice contracts as a results. Writers with much better qualifications weren’t even considered.

I think there is more money if you have deep technical knowledge rather than strong writing skills. What do you think?

Please sign up for our Newsletter and get the best technical writing tips into your inbox every week.

Do you feel loved? Many technical writers feel unloved. They feel they don’t get the respect they deserve. I hear this on LinkedIn and Facebook: “people don’t respect the work I do.” Well, if that’s the case, here are a few ways to get more respect and move into a more rewarding career.

Signs That You Get No Respect

Are you trying too hard?

Define Respect – first, you need to define what you are really looking for? What in others would demonstrate that they respect you? It is financial rewards, credit, acknowledgment or other things. Check that you’re not being over-sensitive or running yourself down. People who don’t respect themselves, never earn respect from others. It’s one long downward cycle.

Getting Bullied – if you feel you’re the butt of their jokes, getting run down, disrespected and ridiculed, then maybe, maybe, maybe there is some bullying going on here. You need to face these people and assert yourself. If you don’t, the same pattern will repeat itself at the next job.

Office Trolls – these people don’t respect anyone. They’re emotional vampires. Don’t take it personally. Even if you do a great job, you’ll never earn their respect. But here’s the thing. Would you want their respect, anyway?

Lack of recognition – if there is a trend/habit of certain staff getting rewarded, while you continually get overlooked, then flag it (be careful – this can back-fire if you’re seeing to be whining) or find ways to address it.

Or just accept that you work with a bunch of jerks!

What to do next

Be active – if your work environment doesn’t see the value in what you do, then get out there and start looking for alternatives. Remember, it’s always easier to get a job when you have a job.

Re-Positioning Yourself – technical writers with 5+ years experience should/could be looking at re-positioning themselves as Content Strategists, Web Content Consultants and other roles where your ‘knowledge’ in more valued. This is where the real money is. It may take you 12-18 months to make this transition but once there the rewards, respects, and career development make it worthwhile.

Perception – Technical writing is often seen by mgt as a service, in the same way that testing, customer support etc are services, i.e. useful but not *always* essential. As long as you’re a writer, people see you as providing a service. And the services industry is very far down the food chain.

Interesting places to look – if you have a taste for adventure, Brazil, Australia, India, China, Poland, Dubai, and others in the Gulf are actively seeking experienced IT professionals. While there are many barriers to moving to these counties, such as language, food, families, health etc, US multi-nationals with offices in these locations can be very supportive of people willing to give it a try. Google, Oracle, IBM, and most of the Nasdaq 100 have offices in Asia. If you’re interested, call them or visit their website. It can’t hurt to look.

What do you think?

What suggestions would you give to someone who wanted to develop their technical writing career or re-position themselves, for example, to move out of documentation and into a new field?

Which of these would you hire to join your Technical Writing Dept? Someone with great writing skills but little technical knowledge or, for example, a Computer Science graduate with deep technical knowledge but average writing skills?  We’ve been talking about this on LinkedIn and here are some thoughts.

Why Writing Skills Are More Important

• Technical writing is about writing.  Words are the foundation upon which the rest is built.
• If you don’t have the writing skills, then regardless of how well you know the application, you can’t explain how it works.
• Your ability to drill down and describe complex functions may be beyond your grasp.
• To resolve this involves arranging sessions & workshops with developers, IT architects etc, all of which cost time/money.
• If writing skills were not necessary, programmers could write the user guides! Ever see a well-written user guide from a 22 year old Java developer? There are exceptions but…
• Technical writing is about communication. Technical writers are trained to interview people and extract the relevant information.  Of course, listening skills are not exclusive to technical writers but many (that I know) feel they grasp the importance of this more than others.
• Writing skills give you the tools to communicate – and to help/teach others to communicate.

FYI – One of the trends I see in Tech Comms, is the changing role of the Technical Writer / Technical Communicator into an educator, facilitator, and becoming the central point of contact for technical information distribution (i.e. technical information coordination).

The counter argument is as follows.

Why Technical Skills Are More Important

• Technical knowledge is the starting point. You need to know how the system works, otherwise all the writing skills in the world may be of little use. If you don’t know what it actually does, what can you begin to write?
• Most ‘non-technical’ technical writers (e.g. graduates with English degrees) waste/take up developers’ time asking questions about how the application works, instead of actually generating content. While there is some leeway here with new technologies, developers have their own deadlines and can’t be expected stop coding to explain the innards to the application.
• Those with technical skills can hit the ground running – it’s the responsibility of the Technical Editor to refine the text.
• Those with technical skills know which questions to ask. As they understand the application/industry/codebase they can ask the hard questions that ‘non technical’ writers would not see in the first place.

Which would you hire?

If you were running a technical writing dept, which type of person would you hire?

A technical writer with strong technical skills, but prone to the occasional typo, or someone with perfect grammar, sound writing skills, but low on technical knowledge?

PS – you can connect with me on LinkedIn here – http://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanwalsh

You’ve just been fired. The Technical Writing Dept is closed. What do you do?  This is a fact of life for many people today. Indeed, there is now a real fear that US technical writers will continue to lose their jobs to offshore companies, e.g. India & Poland. And it’s true; it’s the shape of things to come, I’m afraid. But rather than moan about it, let’s look at what you can do to re-invent yourself and find new, lucrative opportunities.

Ivan Walsh's page on Linkedin

I use LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanwalsh) to keep my finger on the pulse with other tech writers. One of the discussions that keeps coming up (in different threads) is the future role of technical writing, especially how they need to ‘re-invent themselves’ or risk getting left behind.

7 Steps to Reinventing Yourself

The first thing is that you have to change your perception of yourself. You’re not a name tag – stop thinking of yourself as a technical writer.

You’re a person who makes a living by developing technical documentation. Stop looking at your job description. Honest, let it go. What services can you offer that others can’t? If you’ve worked in tech comms for 10 years, you must know something that a graduate doesn’t, right? What is it?

1. Define your core strengths – what’s the one skill you have about all others that you can really sell. It may not be writing. For me, it’s creating videos with Camtasia.
2. Develop a social network plan – create base-camps on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media channels. But work especially hard on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanwalsh). This is where the real action is, especially if you want to network. I can’t push this enough. You have to be on LinkedIn.
3. Identify three people you trust – create a small team and go hunting for work. It’s easier to combine your strengths than go alone. This is the single biggest mistakes that people make. Don’t go it alone. Find people that you trust (or can learn to trust) and start a dialogue with them. Baby steps.
4. Endorsements – use these to build credibility and attract new clients. Remember LinkedIn, well these go a long way here. Use these recommendations to build trust. There are 3 of you so it should be easier to swap/exchange contacts and make things happen.
5. Differentiate – if everyone is doing social media, you can be sure there is a gap elsewhere. Here are some ideas.
   1. Adobe PageMaker templates development
   2. PDF to Word conversion
   3. Structured Authoring classes (valuable to business analysts)
   4. Visio diagramming (very popular with consultancy firms as they do lots of business process engineering)
6. Find a project – don’t worry about the money. The key is to get a real live project that you can work together as a team. Use this to land future work.
7. Start now – even if you are fully employed now, you can start today. Get networking. See who you can work with and how you can work together.

Opportunities I see in Asia today

I was asked recently if technical writers today are ‘no more than a commodity’? I know what the person meant; they felt they were being treated like one.

My response was that (said in a very gentle way…) they need to redefine their position as a technical writer or they will fall further and further down the food chain. Not nice, but true.

I did some consultancy with for a large US home appliance-maker here (fridges etc) in Beijing to help them knock their docs into shape. Most were written by Chinese university graduates, smart kids, but who’d never lived in an English-speaking country. The docs, reports, & (some marketing) material all reflected this. There was a lot of rework involved.

Despite the poor quality of these docs, the company has committed to this strategy and will continue to invest here. In the end, the documentation will improve.

Why?

Because western tech writers are coming here, learning some Chinese and working in the trenches. What they’ve learnt will be passed to the Chinese writers in time.

But, for US writers (and those in wealthy western countries) , they need to find ways to move out of the services/commodity area fast — otherwise their salary will continue to fall/stagnate and the opportunities will continue to dry up.

Takeaways

Don’t follow the crowds. Find an area where you can specialize and then dominate it. If possible, extend this into your social media network but keep some things to yourself as others may try to come in and steal your thunder.

3 often works quite well, e.g. a designer, coder and writer. Of course, you can always scale up later.

For me it’s all down to where and how you can ‘add value’.

If you don’t make daily efforts to push forward, you’ll fall behind.

Twitter.com/ihearttechdocs | Facebook.com | Flickr | LinkedIn | Delicious | Google Reader

Yes, I’m that terrible person who interviews technical writers and asks those awkward questions. Here are some of the things I’m looking for when I interview people.

First, companies expect that graduates will have the same (more or less) writing skills – that’s a given. So, what they’re looking for are other qualities.

Such as?

• Problem solving skills – describe a problem you had and how you overcame the issues. Be modest & don’t tie yourself up in knots.
• Collaboration – demonstrate how/where you collaborated with others. I don’t mean email or twitter but, for example, how you took responsibility (“the project was running behind schedule, so we decided to hold a workshop…”) and how this resolved the issue at hand.
• Technologies – talk about an area you have some expertise. Show how this solved problems (always be the person who solves problems and gets things resolved!) and the benefits it offers.
• Memberships – if you’re a member of the STC or local IT group, talk about it. Paint a picture of someone who is savvy, interested in the community and likes to interact.
• Goals – they want you for the long term. Hiring is expensive. Interviews cost money. Describe your career path and where you want to be. Discuss how this company helps you realize your goals.

Can you see the difference this makes?

Instead of hiring a person just because they’re out of work, the company is getting someone who shares their vision.

Interviews – other things to remember

• Who does the interview – many companies don’t have a technical writing team. This means the IT manager (or PM) will do the interview. If this is the case, do your prep work and expect questions about code, schedules and other area.
• Privacy — HR people may ‘hint’ or suggest that you discuss your lifestyle. Keep it simple but be polite.
• Tests – many companies will ask you to do a 45 min test. Expect this. Don’t be alarmed if they pull this out of the bag at the end of the interview. They shouldn’t do this but some people are like that.

Things not to do at your interview

I’m looking for someone to write documents – someone who is low maintenance. You need to be that person. With that in mind, don’t:

• Arrive late – give yourself time to part the car, find the office, have a drink and calm down, especially if it’s a long drive to get there. Have a light snack (e.g. banana) before going in.
• Wear heavy cologne or perfume. In a small room, it can be over-whelming
• Eat garlic or other such foods before the interview. See above. Mouth freshener never hurt.
• Run down your previous employer. If reflects poorly on you and makes you look petty. Talk them up.

“It’s a great company but I want to move into XYZ, so I thought I’d speak to you.”

Be the type of person you’d like to hire.

Steer clear of the following:

• Religion
• Politics
• Gossip
• Extreme ideologies
• Age
• Family

None of these are their business. Allude to them, e.g. your family, if you wish but keep it brief. Don’t get too buddy-buddy. This is an interview. Keep it professional.

and then…

• Ask questions. This is the single biggest mistake interviewees make. They don’t ask questions. They think that being silent shows respect. Of course it does, but open up. You must have questions. Ask them. I want to hear what you think of the company.
• Show your interest. I used to print out the company annual report and discuss sections with the interviewers (when looking for work) – this blew them away.
• Quote things for their site.
• Talk about the company — as though you already worked for them.
• Social Media — have you joined their Facebook page? Do you follow them on Twitter. If not, why?

Don’t think of yourself as just a technical writer. You’re a potential asset to the company and if THEY make the right decision, they will hire you!

See the difference?

What the most difficult question you were asked at an interview? What is the biggest mistake you made at an interview?

Why did you become a technical writer? Some move into technical writing by accident (me!) while for others it was part of their career path.  I spoke to some technical writers about this recently. Here’s what I learned.

How to get into technical writing

1.    By Accident – Karen started in journalism and discovered technical writing by accident. She felt that technical writing suits people who enjoy communicate and learning new stuff. If you like/love technology, you’re half-way there, if not, chose another field.

2.    Out of Manufacturing – after 10 years in engineering, another colleague saw the ‘writing on the wall’ as the US began to lose its manufacturing jobs to China, India, and Eastern Europe. Moving into technical writing proved an exit route. However, as technical docs are now getting off-shored, she’s considering moving into another field, possibly teaching.

3.    Career Choice – new technical writers (especially in India and China) have decided on Tech Comms as a career and taken the appropriate degrees, such as English, Communication and, in some cases, Journalism.

4.    Career Change - JP did a postgraduate in biology and moved into technical writing as it allowed her to combine her daytime job (technical docs) and real passion (travel writing).

Technical Writing (tech comms) is a very hot field in India, offering an attractive career for university graduates. Think Silicon Valley, late 90s and you get the idea.

How I became a technical writer

I started as a programmer (anyone remember Cobol? Fortran?) but was moved into tech docs during a downsize. I studied computer science in university and though the move at the time seemed a backwards step, it’s served me well.

Coding didn’t suit me. I signed up as others did at the time without understanding the field.

Remember, I’m from a very small town in the west of Ireland so the career advice we got wasn’t the greatest. Most teachers had no experience on PCs in the 80s. What they suggested was based on what the Dept of Education recommended.

So, for me personally, it wasn’t the smartest move but  it opened others opportunities later. I landed many contracts because I know how to write code and run simulations. Most other English majors could write (way better than me) but had limited technical skills.

Since then I’ve lived in the UK, US, Amsterdam and China, so it’s worked out quite well. I have some concerns for ‘old school’ writers who don’t always see the shape of things to come.  You need to keep moving forward in this industry or risk getting left behind.

One last thing

India has an advantage as its education system values/prioritizes maths, while most all young Indians speak English.  So, it’s a terrific combination. China, in contrast, lacks these language skills. So, the focus there is on development.

India is going to get stronger and stronger, especially if the government fast-tracks infrastructure development.

US technical writers will lose their jobs to India. I can guarantee it. It’s a done deal.

But…

There are tremendous opportunities for those who have the gumption to move there and help develop this industry.

India lacks experienced writers, projects managers and team leads. If you have these skills…

UPDATE – I had some comment by email. Most seem to have moved into tech docs by design. However, quite a few are now saying they to move out again to find work.

What careers do you think are open to them?

By the way, 3 of these emails were from people outside the large metro areas so contract options are very thin. Any ideas?

Maybe you don’t hear your accent, but others do. When you read their documents, does the accent come through?

We all judge people by how they speak. It’s easy.

When I was a kid, I had a strong regional accent. I grew up near the countryside and thought that was the way people spoke. Well, we all did.

When I went to college, a teacher told us to polish our accents if we wanted to get ahead. He was right.

Name one CEO or world figure with a strong regional accent? It gets ironed out along the way.

Today, I have hardly any accent.

Years of trying to smooth out the rough edges and blend in have diluted what was there. Most think I’m American, French (dunno!) or Russian (they go by the name, I guess).

Seth Godin asks if your writing has an accent?

“Of course it can. Not just grammar errors, but sentence length, exclamation marks and your vocabulary all tag you. And the fonts, colors, pictures and layouts you choose are part of your accent as well.”

So, here’s my question.

When you review other people’s documents, what can you tell about them? Does the way they ‘speak’ influence the decisions you make based on their material?

Flip it around.

When they read your documents, what do they think?

“Don’t worry” she said. “No one reads this stuff anyway. Just get it done.” Sounds familiar?

These were the words a former Project Manager once told me. I’d written 20,000 words for a banking system – and no-one would read it.

What do you do when your own company has such a poor view of tech docs?

Are you wasting your time?

Does anyone actually read them?

Sure, they must.

Well, how do you know?