Knowledge Bases

I'm getting ready to start two different knowledge base projects... one for my real job and one for a contract. I'm so entirely stoked, mostly because Knowledge Bases are what began my passion for Technical Writing, and also because they are so darned much fun to me!

I'll try and post here quite a bit during the course of these two projects with best practices and ideas and the like. We're going to be using Lore (from PureSoftware) and I'm looking forward to that, the feedback loop, and the fun! WOOOOOO!

I'll let you know... ;)

Onomatopoeia

I can spell it. Yup. can you?
I even know what it means.
quack quack.

Getting a Tech Writing Job

Our developer group is looking for a new tech writer to write specs and they're getting all sorts of fun resumes. They are a source of endless amusement!

One guy sent his resume in .txt format. That's funny! Another sent a resume that was badly formatted (a new indent for every 5 lines, whether it needs it or not!) Other resumes include some blatant misspellings, mis-use of words like "an" and "a" and "then" and "than", and the like.

Now, I'm not sure about other jobs, but when you are applying for a job that has anything to do with communications, you could at least get the resume part right. I'm sorry, but I look at some of these resumes and I think "At least get the resume right, get the job, then sluff off, ok?"

First, if you can't format a document properly, you can't be a tech writer. period. Part of being a good tech writer is document design, and if you can't design a document, don't bother.

Second, if you can't spell, don't bother. Even if you inherently can't spell and rely a whole bunch on spell checker in your word processing program, have someone look at it before you send it off. Also, read it out loud. Word doesn't catch everything. If you can't proof your own writing, how you gonna proof mine?

Third, don't give links to Web sites that may have information on it that may disqualify you. One guy gave a link to a site proclaiming his love for film making and blogging and the fast paced cali world. Not gonna get him a boring job writing specs here... he'll be bored and bored and bored! Quits in a week. Can't have that!

Got some more rules for me? Speak up!

Herro!

Hi, there! I'm the Tech Writer Grrrrl. I'm here to share with you all of the technical writing humor that I can.

There isn't much out there regarding humor for Technical Writers, but boy, do we need it! I'm gonna humor you, I promise.

So, I guess I should give you a purpose for this blog. I'm a Technical Writer, meaning I write documentation about technical things. Currently I write help files and user's guides and such for 4 Internet companies.

My Technical Writing hobby is looking at other people's documentation or reading newspaper articles and laughing at typos, formatting errors, and poor document design along with my co-workers. That's not to say that I'm a perfect writer, and on this blog you will see that I take several liberties when I'm writing for personal pleasure, including:

• Improper Capitilization. I get tired of hitting the shift key. so i will often write like this when i'm trying to do a data dump from my brain to the blog. When I'm writing for professional gain I will properly capitalize. Here, I reserve the right to be lazy.
• Spelling Snobbery. I won two spelling bees when i was young. I could win another. so sue me. I can spell. But you can't!
• Spelling Liberties. I will randomly change the spelling of certain words simply because I can. I sometimes spell thing like i say them. this doesn't mean i don't know how to spell, but i'm simply trying to convey a different feel to my post. I may write "finners" instead of "fingers". That's because I say it out loud that way when I'm talking to my daughter or other folks, not because I don't know how to spell it. This is a blog, it's my place to be casual!
• General Bitchiness. I will use this forum to vent about technical writing atrocities. If you want to hear about it, i'm here for ya! A sympathetic ear, fun with RoboHelp, etc. You will hear it all!
• Product Reviews. I've gotten my hands on some new software recently, and I'm anxious to share my ideas and findings!

That should give you an idea of what to expect from this blog. Happy reading, and happy writing!

See ya soon!

Tech Writer Grrrrl