http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/IT_People A listing of works published by IT People in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/IT_People http://tc.eserver.org/22689.html http://tc.eserver.org/22689.html My advice for those wish to become writers: Write! Write! Write! I have always maintained that great writers are born, and professional writers are made. In the born writers there is an unquenchable thirst for writing, a passion for writing. Writing is a mission. Writing is the soul of the person. The professional writer does it for a living. There is a deadline and the writer can churn out the required number of words. http://tc.eserver.org/22693.html http://tc.eserver.org/22693.html The world chooses India for software development. But this is not true for documentation. Having written User Manuals and Online Help mainly for software exports companies for the last 15 years, I can claim to have written for the world market. http://tc.eserver.org/22694.html http://tc.eserver.org/22694.html One of the advantages that print journalists have is that they learn document design on the job. Today, thanks to computers and design packages, design awareness is very high. Even the novice computer user becomes proficient in designing documents within a few days, if not weeks. Usually, templates are available for brochures, reports, books, etc. All you need to do is fill in the contents in the readymade template. http://tc.eserver.org/22691.html http://tc.eserver.org/22691.html Don't you think that it is a tragedy that 95 percent of the people who desire to be technical writers have a poor command over the language? I am sure all of us make a mistake or two, once in a while. But to make it in every sentence and paragraph shows utter disrespect for readers. http://tc.eserver.org/22690.html http://tc.eserver.org/22690.html If you asked me what the most painful part of being a technical writer is, my answer would be: 'Getting reviews on time. Getting good feedback and inputs on your work.' For me technical writing has been very pleasurable because I hardly got any review comments. My morale has therefore been very high. Project managers, developers and others are so busy trying to come up with good software (read trying to fix all the goof-ups and bugs!) that they usually tend to give documentation lesser importance. User manuals, who reads them anyway? We do not have time for it! http://tc.eserver.org/22687.html http://tc.eserver.org/22687.html Here are the 100 writing errors that the author has encountered in his experience. (Followed by the subsequent article '<a href="http://tc.eserver.org/22688.html">Ten More Errors in Technical Writing</a>.') http://tc.eserver.org/22692.html http://tc.eserver.org/22692.html The TWIN (Technical Writers of India) mailing list has crossed 1,000. As the founder and owner, I wanted to stop the list a few years ago when it had touched 675, because I was afraid it would touch 1,000 within a few months. I had other reasons for wanting to stop the list. But the voice of the members prevailed and I handed over the list to the current owner. Why did I start the list? Well, I saw that Indian technical writers (and others), were making a fool of themselves on Techwhirl (a list with around 4,000 members then, today perhaps it has 8,000) and other lists. A professor from a reputed institute in Bangalore had asked about a problem of printing on the list. I was embarrassed. I said, why not restrict this ignominy to ourselves and started the TWIN list. http://tc.eserver.org/22688.html http://tc.eserver.org/22688.html So, well, here are 10 more errors. This time we will focus on grammar and punctuation. Most of these are simplistic and obvious. But then they are too common. As usual, I have slipped in some content for the advanced writers too. (This article is a follow-up to '<a href="http://tc.eserver.org/22687.html">One Hundred Simple Tech Writing Errors </a>.) http://tc.eserver.org/22604.html http://tc.eserver.org/22604.html There has been a tremendous growth in the software industry and some growth in technical writing. Most of my columns ten years ago were rants about the poor state of our manuals and our software. Today, I think the humblest of companies is producing great stuff. The reason for it is simple--globalisation and the Internet. http://tc.eserver.org/22601.html http://tc.eserver.org/22601.html An index is a vital part of a user manual and a help file. A manual without an index is like a 21-storey house without a names board on the ground floor. You will have to search through all the floors in the building to locate your friend’s residence. http://tc.eserver.org/22600.html http://tc.eserver.org/22600.html How do you go about estimating the number of hours that a project would take? http://tc.eserver.org/22610.html http://tc.eserver.org/22610.html Are there practical chances of growth and scope for learning/improving oneself while working as a technical writer? http://tc.eserver.org/22599.html http://tc.eserver.org/22599.html 'Localisation' is the term given to changing the software and the related documentation to suit a particular geographical region. One of the major components of localisation is of course translation. Needless to add, I am talking about localisation from an international perspective. Localisation at the national level would mean having software in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and so on. Surprisingly, this has not happened in a big way. http://tc.eserver.org/22598.html http://tc.eserver.org/22598.html Why is my daughter not being taught to read technical literature? Practical things like reading a VCR manual or a pamphlet on health. http://tc.eserver.org/22608.html http://tc.eserver.org/22608.html When you are a speaker, you communicate. When you are the audience, you communicate. As a member of the development team, the technical writer has to deal with hundreds of intelligent egos. There are the programmers who think only about solutions and technology (not about people and their emotions). A technical writer would definitely feel hurt, when developers talk down to him. Managers on the other hand are likely to have oodles of people skills and may not have technical skills. Therefore, they may talk nicely to you. Nevertheless, a technical writer may feel that managers do not appreciate his technical skills. http://tc.eserver.org/22597.html http://tc.eserver.org/22597.html Some of the biggest opportunities in technical writing are in proposal and grant writing. In fact, an American company wanted me to write proposals for them. But I refused saying that I had no experience. Of course, I lost money and a “golden opportunity”. You need not miss out on such an opportunity. If you know English and have some report writing skills, you can become a proposal writer. In India, grant writing or writing reports for grants or funding is not very popular. But in the US grant writing is big business. Technical writers are making big money writing grants and proposals. Typically, departments in universities want funding for their projects. These could come from corporations, trusts, and individuals. How do you convince them to fund your projects? That is what grant writing is about. http://tc.eserver.org/22602.html http://tc.eserver.org/22602.html We are all against bonded labour and slavery. I ask you: are software professionals (including technical writers), better off than slaves and bonded labourers? http://tc.eserver.org/22606.html http://tc.eserver.org/22606.html I had a chance to interview three technical writers in Pune, the oasis of technical writers. All of them were techies doing technical writing. I am into EDA technical writing these days (one of the toughest areas of technical writing—this is rocket science, buddies!) and naturally technical acumen is a strength. All of them were new to technical writing (and perhaps even writing) as was evident from the fact that none of them brought in writing samples. http://tc.eserver.org/22605.html http://tc.eserver.org/22605.html There is such a desperate need for technical writers that anyone and everyone is welcome. My only fond hope is that we deliver quality. The minimum requirements for technical writing are good English-language skills, and proper use of grammar and punctuation. Typically, in most of the user manuals that I have picked up in India, I have always found errors after browsing through a few pages. Some of these errors are gross and some of them are subtle. http://tc.eserver.org/22607.html http://tc.eserver.org/22607.html In technical writing, the most important tool of the trade is of course your brain. Next come your communication skills and those are followed by language skills. Finally, you will use these tools to create and shape your writing. A word processor is the most important tool of them all. http://tc.eserver.org/22609.html http://tc.eserver.org/22609.html 'More technical writers. Better technical writers.' This is the mantra I have in mind while I write this column. http://tc.eserver.org/22603.html http://tc.eserver.org/22603.html http://tc.eserver.org/22440.html http://tc.eserver.org/22440.html Ever thought about what goes into creating the user manuals or instruction brochures of your music system, mobile phones or even the car maintenance guides? Most of us just manage to glance through the item, leave alone going into the technical details.