Category Archives: technical writing

The Technical Writer as Engineer

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

My career path is supposed to be impossible. I’m doing engineering work and technical writing for an aerospace company without an engineering degree or much strength in math or science. That’s not supposed to happen, but here I am. How … Continue reading →

Posted in careers, engineering, technical writing | Leave a comment

Playing Nicely With Subject Matter Experts

Posted on April 20, 2013 by

I gave this talk today at the 2013 STC Rocket City Technical Communication Conference. Perhaps it will be of some use to you. When Working with SMEs Goes Badly I began my talk with a couple of Subject Matter Expert … Continue reading →

Posted in technical writing, personal, documents, workplace, clients, Office Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Wearing of Many Hats

Posted on April 11, 2013 by

Life in a small business is always challenging because you end up wearing more hats than you would at a large business. It’s one thing to write about it in the abstract, it’s another to live it. I’ve been at Zero Point … Continue reading →

Posted in careers, technical writing, workplace | 2 Comments

App Design and Other Strange Tasks

Posted on February 18, 2013 by

New things keep crossing my desk, not all of them typically within the technical writer’s purview…at least in my previous life. Welcome to life outside of the Matrix. One of these tasks was eminently doable, the other one not so … Continue reading →

Posted in engineering, technical writing, Technology | 1 Comment

Leaving the Matrix

Posted on August 31, 2012 by

For the last six years and two months, I have had the good fortune to support NASA’s human space activities at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, whilst in the employ of two good companies: ASI and Schafer. In … Continue reading →

Posted in careers, personal, philosophy, science fiction, technical writing | Tagged | 5 Comments

Teaching, Traveling, Etc.

Posted on August 8, 2012 by

My apologies for not posting in awhile, all. I am gratified by the amount of traffic this site gets, even when I’ve been away from the computer for awhile. So why have I been so quiet? First, I was out of … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, personal, technical writing | Tagged | 3 Comments

Technical Writing as a Calling

Posted on July 16, 2012 by

Okay, this post might be a little more lofty than some of the others, but there is a point to this, and I’m here to write about the philosophy of technical writing, not always the technical matters. What exactly do … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, careers, personal, philosophy, technical writing | 1 Comment

Writing in the Corporate Voice

Posted on July 14, 2012 by

Regardless of what sort of materials you write, you have to select or acquire a style that fits the personality of the individual or organization on whose behalf it’s being written. Style is one of those things that’s hard to … Continue reading →

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Editing for Scientists and Engineers

Posted on July 7, 2012 by

It is easy to be underestimated as a technical writer/editor, especially in high-functioning organizations like IT or aerospace engineering. Just because you don’t have an engineering degree does not mean that you are ill-equipped to correct scientists or engineers when … Continue reading →

Posted in editing, engineering, science, technical writing, workplace | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Working in the Little Room

Posted on June 30, 2012 by

If you ever take a job doing proposal writing, eventually you will spend some time in The Little Room. Okay, maybe it’s not that little, but there are a few attributes to a proposal “war room” that are pretty common, … Continue reading →

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