Tech Writing Lecture

Today I guest lectured to a Tech Writing class at one of the local community colleges.

The professor and I are friends from a gaming group.  When she found out I was a tech writer by trade, she asked if I'd be interested in guest lecturing to her Technical Writing course.  I for some reason said yes.  Today was that day.

Students do not always believe their professors about what is really important.  This class is a required class for most students and sometimes (most times) they don't really understand why they have to take the class.  The professor wanted someone with actual experience in the field to talk and drive the point home.

For those interested, behind the cut are my lecture notes.


 1.  Overview
     Here are the broad areas I'm going to talk about:
     a. Yay Me! Section – wherein I talk about how I got here
     b. Types of Tech Writing – a short discourse about proposals/Reports/Resumes/Presentations as a job function versus it being the job
     c. What I Do and the Tech Writing Industry
     d. Questions and Answers

2.  Yay Me!
     a. I started in Retail
          o This has nothing to do with anything, but it's where I started my work career.
          o I was invited by Texas Tech to "spend a semester examining other options".  I went back afterwards and switched majors.  I dropped Physics and switched to General Studies [tell story about what GS is] and focused on English, History, and Classics.  [Explain ancient writings angle to study.]  I also took some programming courses.  Those classes taught the importance of CORRECT SYNTAX.
          o During and after college I worked at several Bookstops and a niche store that sold non-electronic games – so you can see my leanings.
     b. Next I worked for UCS (Universal Computer Systems)
          o Here I got into technical writing by way of insults.  [Tell the insult story.]
          o I nearly got fired in the first week. [Tell the story.]
          o This is why it is important to SET EXPECTATIONS.  More on this later.
          o I worked here for 3.5 years, commuting from Houston to College Station.  I learned to WORK INDEPENDENTLY and MANAGE PRIORITIES.  [Tell story of To Do list with five Priority 1 items.]
          o Left because I was tech writing on the sly and tired of driving so far to work everyday.
     c. I interviewed with the same guy at two different companies.
          o I learned that without a degree, I needed WORK EXPERIENCE, in this case a minimum of three years worth.  (That's correct, even though I attended Texas Tech for 4.5 years and accumulated 130 credit hours, I don't have a degree – shhh!)
          o Eventually hired on with second after a friend of my wife talked me up.  NETWORKING is important.
     d. I've spent eight years as a tech writer at what is now SPX-Valley Forge.
          o I like what I do, a lot, which is why I stayed.
          o I work with major companies in the oil and gas industry, helping their people look good through their documentation.  While I have worked primarily on my own, I have also worked with documentation teams as large as 20 people on "documents" 35,000 pages long.  (Remember that when asked to write a 3 5 page paper for a class.)
          o I now lead teams of documentation experts on large projects and work solo on small ones, often at the same time.
 
3.  Types of Tech Writing
     This section will be short.
     There are two meanings of "technical writing".
     a. One is the writing of Proposals, Reports, Resumes, User Guides, and/or Presentations as ancillary to your job.
          o Here, your main job is something else, but you occasionally need to present or share your knowledge on a subject.
          o If you gain employment that requires your degree, you will have to do this form of technical writing to a greater or lesser extent.  Especially those of you who will be engineers.
          o Remember:  If you cannot express yourself well, your knowledge and experience is lost to your employer.
     b. The other type of technical writing is where the writing of Proposals, Reports, Resumes, User Guides, and/or Presentations IS your job.
          o Here, your main job is the transfer of knowledge as clearly as possible, even if you are not the expert.
          o This can be either as a direct employee of a company, writing material for internal or external use, or as a contractor, either independently or as part of a contracting company.
          o This is my job.

4. What I Do and What the Tech Writing Industry Is
     This section is a bit more involved and discusses technical writing as a job with an emphasis on contract technical writing.
     a. Most people working as a technical writer started out doing something else.  I have met exactly one person who trained specifically to get into technical writing by design.  He was working for us while getting his second degree, a degree in technical writing.  He was one of the first in that program.
     b. Working as a technical writer requires some specific skills:
          o A solid and comprehensive grasp on English grammar.  Seriously.  This can also include following a project style guide, of which many companies have their own version.  Or they'll ask you to create one.
          o Writing skills.  Anyone can brain dump onto a page.  Not everyone can get the words to effectively convey the idea.  Contract tech writers are hired to make other people's writing look its best.
          o The ability to work independently when necessary.
          o The ability to manage priorities.  Critical when working on multiple documents at the same time.  Also to make deadlines.
          o Along with managing priorities, setting expectations in others is vital.
          o The ability to network.  This is especially important for contractors, not only to get work, but to effectively integrate into a client's corporate environment.  Remember: administrative assistants are your friends.
          o Experience.  Learn from what you work on.  The people you work for expect you to learn about the product or service, whether or not you are a contractor or an employee.