Sell Your Technical Writing Services  

Times are changing. Before 2001, when you went to sell your technical writing services, you might have checked a job board, read a newspaper, or called the manager of Human Resources and then referred to a written job description. In 2004, things are different.

Walsh, Tina K. Intercom (2004). Careers>Freelance>Writing>Technical Writing

Semantic, Structured Authoring

This article looks at the impact of the introduction of semantic markup and structured authoring on the world of technical writers, editors, Help authors and content developers. This article is not specifically about the Semantic Web movement itself, but about the implementation of semantic concepts in the documentation field.

Self, Tony. HyperWrite (2006). Articles>Information Design>Semantic>Technical Writing

Semi-Definite Rules for the Indefinite Article

Technical writing–perhaps more than any other sort of writing–gets read and used by people from every corner of the Anglophonic world. And people don’t get less sensitive to perceived slights or the appearance of cultural insensitivity because it’s a manual or help page. If anything, they’re more sensitive in such a circumstance.

Forte, Brian. Red Hat Magazine (2007). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Grammar

Service Learning in the Introductory Technical Writing Class: A Perfect Match?    

Teachers at all levels of college instruction use service learning, a popular pedagogical tool since the mid-eighties, to teach students both social consciousness and pragmatic, real-world writing skills. This article explores the concept of service learning as rhetorical action in the field of technical communication in general, and the question of whether service learning is appropriate in beginning level technical writing courses. Using my experience through two years of service learning instruction in community college classes, I respond to the charge that students in lower-division courses may lack the maturity to successfully enact service learning assignments. I also analyze the appropriateness of the community college as a catalyst for community-based writing projects.

Stone, Elisa. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2000). Articles>Education>Service Learning>Technical Writing

Sex Differences in Technical Communication: A Perspective from Social Role Theory    

This article interprets technical communication research about sex differences according to social role theory, which argues that sex differences are enculturated through experiences associated with social positions in the family and the workplace. It reevaluates technical communication research about sex differences in communicative and collaborative styles in the classroom and the workplace and about the effects of the double bind that women experience in the workplace. The article concludes with a recommendation that theoretical frameworks explaining sex differences remain flexible and able to account for social change.

Thompson, Isabelle. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2004). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Gender

The Shifting Technical Writing Market

I believe that technical writers, by and large, do a poor job of marketing themselves in a competitive business. We cannot simply send resumes out anymore and expect the employers to come to us. The market moves too quickly for that. And business is changing: We're about to start moving even faster.

Knowles, Michael. Write Thinking (2002). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing

A Short List of Tips for Technical Writing using Microsoft Word

This document provides some pointers on how you can make Microsoft Word work better for you. I assume that you already have a pretty good understanding of the use of Word. This document only covers concepts or techniques that will make the program work better for you. The document was originally developed with Word 97 in mind, but it seems to be relevant for more recent versions as well, though the exact key strokes may differ.

Woodward, Richard T. Texas A and M University. Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Microsoft Word

A Simple Recipe to Help Build a Goal-Oriented Training Program for Your Department  

Addressing a department's learning requirements is a tough call because of the different levels of complexities and challenges involved. With learning requirements poorly understood and sometimes even out of sync with department goals, a majority of training programs fail to achieve any major business objectives. What you need is the right approach to develop, monitor and standardize a cost-effective, people and result-oriented training program that works magic for you and your department.

Kudesia, Saurabh. STC Management SIG (2007). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing

Simplified Technical English: STC Should Take the Lead  

Proposes that STC become involved in brainstorming ideas about Simplified Technical English, thus leading the way for clear, correct documentation.

Lester, Larry. Intercom (2006). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Minimalism

Single Sourcing in Technical Communication

No term has caused such a sensation in recent years among technical writers and illustrators as 'Single Sourcing.' The reasons: Enormous amounts of text and image material builds up in documentation and illustration companies. It is not uncommon for individual documents to contain several thousands of pages. If this is translated into several languages, then the administration needs are greater for both texts and graphics (graphics can contain text which must also be translated).

Fibinger, Iris. SVG Open (2002). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Technical Writing

Six Reasons You Don't Need a Technical Writer (and Why They're Dead Wrong!)

Hiring the right freelancer to do the job correctly the first time around could save you hundreds or thousands in help desk calls, service calls, document revision, and distribution. Here's why.

Zuccardy, Ann. Ezine Articles (2005). Articles>Project Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Slides to Teach Technical Writing

Given on this site are free PowerPoint slides to teach technical writing. These slides come from The Craft of Scientific Writing (3rd ed., Springer, 1996). More than 400 instructors around the world have requested these slides.

Alley, Michael. Virginia Tech (2002). Academic>Course Materials>Writing>Technical Writing

Software Development Kit (SDK) Documents in 10 Simple Steps

Here are the ten simple steps to successful software development kit (SDK) documentation.

Buck, Catherine. KeyContent.org (2004). Articles>Documentation>SDK>Technical Writing

Software Documentation

Software documentation or source code documentation is written text that accompanies computer software. It either explains how it operates or how to use it. In fact, the term software documentation means different things to different people. This article describes the term as used by the largest groups of users.

Wikipedia. Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing

Software Documentation Process: Symbios Logic  

This panel presents the software documentation processes of three companies. Participating on an interface design team allows writers to contribute to a software’s usability and to develop supporting documentation early in the software’s development cycle. This presentation summarizes the crossfunctional team’s process and strategies for designing the interface and for preparing usable support products. I will also review the successes and problems we encountered as we created online help and a printed user guide. Writers can learn about Symbios Logic’s interface design team as one approach to creating usable software with accurate, quality documentation. At Symbios Logic, one of our goals is to develop data storage products supported by accurate, easy-to-use documentation. The major challenge we face in completing this documentation is meeting the release dates for our products. To achieve this goal, we are re-designing our latest software by combining both interface and documentation development into one design process.

Burroughs, Dia H. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing

Some Advice on Writing a Technical Report

The Technical Report (TR) is a common written form through which computer scientist communicate their findings. Each TR should have a focused topic that is developed logically along some clearly identified perspective. The major components of a TR are title, author information, date, keywords, informative abstract, body, acknowledgments, references, and appendices. Typically, the body is organized into four sections: motivation, methods, results, and discussion. This document offers advice and specifications for writing TRs.

Sherman, Alan T. UMBC (1996). Articles>Writing>Reports>Technical Writing

Some Advice on Writing a Technical Report

The Technical Report (TR) is a common written form through which computer scientist communicate their findings. Each TR should have a focused topic that is developed logically along some clearly identified perspective. The major components of a TR are title, author information, date, keywords, informative abstract, body, acknowledgments, references, and appendices. Typically, the body is organized into four sections: motivation, methods, results, and discussion. This document offers advice and specifications for writing TRs.

Sherman, Alan T. UMBC (1996). Articles>Writing>Reports>Technical Writing

Starting a Technical Writing Business from Scratch

What does it take to start your own technical-writing business? Chutzpa! Insanity! I began mine by getting a loan from my local bank for my first computer to set up a home office. It was a Micron desktop 386, the fastest computer in town! That was nine years ago. I now have a nice office, a sizeable staff, and all the work I can handle, most of the time.

Nickolich, Ruth. Writing Assistance (2006). Careers>Management>Technical Writing

Starting with the Vendor's Documentation  

When a company purchases software for in-house implementation technical writers can contribute to the implementation and training by customizing the vendor’s documentation. This paper describes three strategies with case histories: rewrite; revise and expand; supplement. It offers hours-per-page statistics for comparison and outlines a method of analyzing how much to invest in additional documentation. This paper focuses on user’s guides, but the logic also applies to training guides and on-line help.

Littlewood, Ann P. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing

Strategies for Teaching Online Documentation    

This workshop outlines the rationale for teaching college courses in online documentation, issues to consider, suggests a strategy for teaching the course (including topic sequence, exercises, and simulation), and demonstrates useful electronic resources.

Sammons, Martha C., Tabatha Dillon and Melinda Hoffbauer. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing

Strategies for Winning Recognition: Building a Visible, Viable, and Valuable Documentation Team  

Technical writing teams can improve their standing within their organizations. The purpose of this presentation is to share our experiences at Mirant where we've achieved recognition and respect as a vital internal service to the IT department and, increasingly, to the rest of the company.

Harkness, Holly E. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>Technical Writing

Strategies When Hiring a Technical Writer  

This article offers tips for project and development managers hiring a technical writer to document a software development project.

Kelly, William T. TechRepublic (2003). Careers>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

A Structured Process for Transforming Usability Data into Usability Information  

Much research has been devoted to developing usability evaluation methods that are used in evaluating interaction designs. More recently, however, research has shifted away from evaluation methods and comparisons of evaluation methods to issues of how to use the raw usability data generated by these methods. Associated with this focus is the assumption that the transformation of the raw usability data into usability information is relatively straightforward. We would argue that this assumption is incorrect, especially for novice usability practitioners. In this article, we present a structured process for transforming raw usability data into usability information that is based on a new way of thinking about usability problem data. The results of a study of this structured process indicate that it helps improve the effectiveness of novice usability practitioners.

Howarth, Jonathan, Terence S. Andre and Rex Hartson. Journal of Usability Studies (2007). Articles>Usability>Reports>Technical Writing

A Style in Technical Writing   

This course is designed to teach you to: recognize the variety and characteristics of styles of technical communication; adapt your writing style for different aims and audiences; revise efficiently and appropriately; and articulate reasons for revisions in your writing.

Dragga, Sam. Texas Tech University (2009). Articles>Information Design>Visual>Technical Writing