Writing a Professional Life Stories of Technical Communicators On and Off the Job (Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication)

by Savage, Gerald J.; Sullivan, Dale L.; Dragga, Sam

• ISBN13: 9780205321063
• ISBN10: 0205321062
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2019-07-27
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This is the first collection of narratives by practicing technical communicators telling their own personal stories about the workplace and their lives on the job.The authors portray a wide range of jobs: writers, editors, interface designers, marketing writers, and trainers working in 9 different technical fields, including software, R&D, engineering , medicine, transportation, and telecommunications. The stories vividly demonstrate the unique power of narrative as a teaching and learning tool. Unlike fabricated cases, these real-life narratives show new and veteran technical writers at work on the job, dealing with tasks, clients, and co-workers, and revealing their insights, values, and attitudes about their work. The stories also show the skills required in the profession and the ethical and other issues raised in the course of the workday.For anyone interested in technical communication and professional writing.

Table of Contents

Preface	xxv
Part I Initiation Stories
I'm a Nibbie: The Tale of an Object-Oriented GUI Developer	3	(6)
Rosalie Young Dwyer
The Great Pyramid War	9	(8)
Brad Connatser
Glimpse into Reality	17	(6)
Michael Asay
My Entry-Level Life	23	(11)
Kendra Potts
First Time Out	34	(5)
Melissa Alton
How I Became a Goddess	39	(5)
Alina Rutten
A Job like a Tattoo	44	(6)
Beth Lee
It's Not Mark Twain's River Anymore	50	(11)
Carol Hoeniges
Part II The Process	61	(70)
Three Months, Three Pages	63	(6)
Rahel Anne Bailie
Conquering the Cubicle Syndrome	69	(5)
Geoff Hart
Try and Try Again: The Story of a Software Project	74	(16)
Mark H. Bloom
Tech Writing and the Art of Laziness	90	(3)
Tim Casady
I've Been Working on the Railroad: Re-Vision at BNP Railway	93	(9)
Julie S. Hile
Daze at the Round Table	102	(4)
Shawn S. Staley
Diary of a Tech Writer	106	(8)
Elna R. Tymes
Samurai Review	114	(13)
Steven Jong
Thumbnails	127	(4)
Rochelle Gidonian
Part III Life On and Off the Job	131	(60)
What a Life	133	(16)
Christine Pellar-Kosbar
It Isn't What You Write That Makes You a Tech Writer: A Love Story	149	(6)
L. M. Hayes
Fluff	155	(6)
Jerry Kenney
Madame Mao in the Midwest	161	(5)
Reva Rasmussen
Stranger in Paradigm	166	(12)
Lenore Weiss
Afterword: Talking to the People Who Know	178	(13)
Dale L. Sullivan
Further Reading on Narrative and Writing in the Workplace	191