There isn't much going on right now. I've been pretty busy with working and spending time with my family so I haven't got much time to practice tech writing or resume building. I'm going to be going to Greece in August so I figure I'll have plenty of time to be doing the sorts of things I should be doing. My fiance is going to take the time while in Greece to build herself professionally as well. Overall, I think it will be a great thing for the two of us. Also, I'll finally get to see my family over there after 5 years.
I still haven't finished doing this vacuum cleaner manual because the file on my laptop got deleted randomly (probably a virus). So, I had to start from scratch. I will do the writing for it and I will also format and edit it with pictures and all. I should be a nice little addition to my portfolio.
I'm also looking into proposal writing because it looks interesting to me. For my next project, I'll write a proposal for something. I don't know what yet but I'll look for some ideas online.
My discipline has been lacking so far. I was doing pretty well there for a while but I ran out of steam. This happens to me sometimes but once I get the ball rolling again I should be fine. I have time to write but getting started is the hardest part for me because of the myriad of distractions around me. It doesn't help that the tool I use to write is also my single biggest vehicle for entertainment. It's hard not to browse the internet instead of write.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Hello
Time for a new career!
After a failed attempt at teaching high school English I've decided the technical writing route is right for me. I want to gain experience in this field and hopefully a job somewhere down the line. I don't have much experience with technical writing but I'm willing to practice and do some free work if at all possible.
The purpose of this blog is to document my progress (or lack thereof) and give me some self-reflection. Sometimes it helps to write out your thoughts when you don't know what to do.
If this blog does gain a readership it will also be a vehicle to start some professional relationships with more experienced technical writers to mentor me.
Currently, I am working on a couple of things. I want to build some sort of portfolio to show employers that I won't waste their time and money training me (or at least too much of it). The trouble is I don't have any real work to show for myself so I'm spending time creating a spec portfolio.
Right know I'm working on a vacuum cleaner manual. I figure it will show somebody at the very least I can create a manual for a consumer product that is somewhat readable and I'm not an incompetent writer.
Besides the vacuum cleaner manual, I have also written the rules of a made up board game my friend and I created a couple of years ago. It was great practice and actually kind of fun.
I have also downloaded a free trial of Adobe Framemaker and bought a book to teach me how to use it. I think that many companies and technical writers use this program for their documents. I figure it couldn't hurt and is just another thing to put on a resume.
I doubt any working tech writers are reading this right now but if you are; can you give me any advice on what else to do? I don't want to waste my time creating a spec portfolio if it won't be useful to a job hunt. Also, should I aim to specialize in a particular niche? It seems that many technical writers do write for a specific field.
After a failed attempt at teaching high school English I've decided the technical writing route is right for me. I want to gain experience in this field and hopefully a job somewhere down the line. I don't have much experience with technical writing but I'm willing to practice and do some free work if at all possible.
The purpose of this blog is to document my progress (or lack thereof) and give me some self-reflection. Sometimes it helps to write out your thoughts when you don't know what to do.
If this blog does gain a readership it will also be a vehicle to start some professional relationships with more experienced technical writers to mentor me.
Currently, I am working on a couple of things. I want to build some sort of portfolio to show employers that I won't waste their time and money training me (or at least too much of it). The trouble is I don't have any real work to show for myself so I'm spending time creating a spec portfolio.
Right know I'm working on a vacuum cleaner manual. I figure it will show somebody at the very least I can create a manual for a consumer product that is somewhat readable and I'm not an incompetent writer.
Besides the vacuum cleaner manual, I have also written the rules of a made up board game my friend and I created a couple of years ago. It was great practice and actually kind of fun.
I have also downloaded a free trial of Adobe Framemaker and bought a book to teach me how to use it. I think that many companies and technical writers use this program for their documents. I figure it couldn't hurt and is just another thing to put on a resume.
I doubt any working tech writers are reading this right now but if you are; can you give me any advice on what else to do? I don't want to waste my time creating a spec portfolio if it won't be useful to a job hunt. Also, should I aim to specialize in a particular niche? It seems that many technical writers do write for a specific field.
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