Genres in Technical/Professional Writing

For my internship at Krimson Kultuur, I have been designing business cards and info cards for the store. Design is an element found in all forms of technical writing. Each document a company or person creates must have some kind of design that holds them all together. For example, a handbook will usually contain the same color scheme and layout throughout in order to create a uniform look. This is design at work. In this sense, you can think of design as an element present throughout all forms of the document. It will dictate layout, style, visuals, and even the printed product.

In terms of the specific documents I have been designing for Krimson Kultuur, I have been making sure that each of the documents has similar visuals and style. The documents share a crimson and gold color scheme (pantone 186 and 116, respectively) and the same typography. This is gives the different documents used for advertising an attractive and uniform look. There’s no confusing one of business cards or info cards with that of another store when a person can see the similarities in design.

Carolyn Miller’s “Genre as Social Action” says that genre represents action and the action must involve situation and motive. Each of these designs that I am creating is supposed to give the audience a subtle cue to respond to. It is not a stretch so say that the purpose of a design is to create a response in the intended audience. By that standard, the motive of the designs I am creating is supposed to generate some kind of business to Krimson Kultuur.

In Anis Bawarshi and Mary Jo Reiff’s “Rhetorical Genre Studies,” they say, “Within disciplinary contexts, for instance, genres normalize activities and practices, enabling community members to participate in these activities and practices in fairly predictable, familiar ways in order to get things done. At the same time, though, genres are dynamic because as their conditions of use change… genres must change along with them or risk becoming obsolete.” Design is possibly one of the most persistent and dynamic genres. It gives people the needed feeling of familiarity and is able to adapt into many different forms. Like I mentioned earlier, a handbook will show all the different elements of design throughout. The visuals, style, and layout of any employee handbook should be easily recognizable with the branding of the company. An instruction manual for a video game console will hold style, visuals, and layouts that apply to the company that created that console.

Defining Technical/Professional Writing

In David Dobrin’s “What’s Technical about Technical Writing,” he quotes a definition by Patrick Kelley and Roger Masse that says, “Technical writing is writing about a subject in the pure sciences or applied sciences in which the writer informs the reader through an objective presentation of facts.” This definition doesn’t sit well with Dobrin because it defines a concept in terms that are equally difficult to understand. He later goes on to state his definition of technical writing as “writing that accommodates technology to the user.” While I find Dobrin’s definition to be better than Kelley and Masse’s, I strongly disagree with both of them because I dislike the idea of a clear cut definition for technical writing.

There seems to be an excessive amount of emphasis on defining technical writing. Like Jo Allen in his “The Case Against Defining Technical Writing,” I do not think a definition for technical writing works because it creates a strict split for what is and what is not technical writing. While I understand the need to be able to define our profession and explain it to others, I found that the gamut of skills I have acquired while learning technical writing makes that task seemingly impossible. In the courses that I have taken for technical writing I have learned how to create documents adhering to a strict style guide; I have learned how to edit documents with multiple style books; I have learned how to write HTML and CSS code for websites; I have learned how to create graphics for advertising; and I have learned how to use a plethora of different software to accomplish all of these tasks and many more. All of these things are tasks that a technical writer can do.

Maybe my unorthodox view of technical writing can be contributed to the English department. Our technical writing major originates from a humanities department that emphasizes discussion, imagination, and originality. Learning from the humanities helps you understand different messages and the ambiguity of those messages an author is trying to deliver. Sometimes you have to be able to think differently in order to convey a message, and learning from a humanities department helps that happen. A heavy summary for one of the main points of Carolyn Miller’s “A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing” would be that the humanities allow technical writing a communal rationality rather than contextless logic.

In my internship at Krimson Kultuur, I have mostly worked on the design aspect of technical writing. I have created business cards and info cards so customers can better understand our products and our mission. I know that I will also be editing our website and some instructional documents. These are all aspects of technical writing.

In the end, technical writing falls under numerous categories, and a technical writer can accomplish many different tasks, but one thing will always be true about technical writers: they are indispensable assets.

Training for the Future

Looking at life after college can be a dauntless and frustrating task. I have encountered many job advertisements that want 3-5 years experience, but I am not going to let that stop me.  I believe that if I have the required and preferred skills I can make myself marketable to those companies.    Emily Soplinsky, in her article Survival Skills for Communicators with Organizations states, “Technical communicators frequently find themselves in situations that require more organizational skills than simply knowing what makes a good document.” With additional training, I can gain additional organization skills and increase my marketability for the jobs listed below.

Job One - Technical Editor

Company

Information Builders

Description

• The Technical Editor provides editorial services and support to all Technical Content Management staff, in addition to release publishing support. The Technical Editor cultivates cooperative relationships with the technical writing staff and serves as a resource on writing, editorial, and production issues. Specific responsibilities include:
• Copy editing and indexing online and print documentation. Assuming the role of objective reader/user, evaluating organization and clarity of information presented, and identifying topics for reuse.
• Developing, maintaining, and interpreting style standards and procedures.
• Supporting the implementation of a content management system, particularly by defining guidelines and best practices for single-sourcing, minimalistic writing, and utilizing DITA/XML document processing.
• Participating in the creation and maintenance of project plans as they pertain to copy edit and writing tasks.
• Support production processes for online and print deliverables.
• Collaborating with Technical Writers and Product Managers to collect information necessary to improve documentation (for example, obtaining answers to questions about content; helping to determine how new features or changes to documentation are most effectively presented).
• Supporting department-level projects and communications, such as the Technical Documentation Library, the department web site, and STC activities.
• Troubleshooting possible problems related to the electronic publishing tools in the Windows environment (Astoria, WorldServer, XMetal, Acrobat, etc.).
• Participating in Quality Assurance reviews of documentation in print, PDF, and HTML formats.
• Training other staff in style standards, editing procedures, indexing procedures, and electronic publishing tools.
• Building technical product knowledge in order to make informed decisions and add value during the editorial process.

 Requirements

• Approximately 5-7 years of experience in a documentation environment, technical or non-technical.
• Four-year college degree in English, Writing, Journalism or other related topic.
• PC experience with Windows and desktop publishing software.
• Strong grammar, copyediting, and proofreading skills, with good attention to detail.
• Internet research skills.
• Ability to multi-task, maintain schedules, and meet scheduled deadlines.
• Ability to collaborate with individuals and groups to complete projects. 
• The following skills are desired but not required:
•  Familiarity with content management systems.
• Experience with XML or HTML and publishing on the Internet.

           

Job Posting:  http://www.candidatemanager.net/cm/Micro/JobDetails.aspx?&mid=YFDB&sid=BBWF&jid=UWEVUAZU&site=Information

Training Guide

Additional training I would need for this position is knowledge of DITA/XML, WorldServer, and XMetal. 

DITA: Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an open toolkit used in publishing.  A DITA user guide can be found at http://dita-ot.sourceforge.net/doc/ot-userguide/xhtml/.  A YouTube DITA quick start guide, posted by Suite Solutions, is an additional training resource.

XML: EXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language like HTML.  XML tutorials can be found at http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp. Portnovschool has also posted a XML tutorial for beginners on YouTube.

WorldServer: SDL WorldServer simplifies and accelerates localization processes for any content - from websites to documents to software. (http://www.sdl.com/products/sdl-worldserver/).  SDL has a PDF user guide for WorldServer available.

XMetaL: XmetaL is an XML editor. XMetaL offers several PDF user guides and publishingsmarter has a XMetaL basics video available on YouTube.

Job Two - Jr Technical Editor / Writer

Company

Department of Homeland Security

Description

• Researches, writes, edits, and proofreads more complex technical data for use in documents or sections of documents such as manuals, procedures and specifications to provide clients with information regarding technical areas in a less technical way. 
• Assists in establishing style guidelines and standards for texts and illustrations to meet business needs. 
• Interviews programmers, engineers, developers, and other technical personnel;. Reads previous documentation and design notes, and uses computer based training or company technical products to gather and research technical information for use in more complex documentation. 
• Writes, organizes, enters and compiles more complex online help files to support end users. 
• Creates, compiles, and delivers more complex system/software developmental documentation packages including, but not limited to narratives, logic diagrams, input and output samples, input preparation instructions, job setup information, etc., from technical project team inputs, system requirements analysis, system design specifications, technical system design, technical procedure development, configuration control requirements, test and training specifications, and programming notes. 
• Assists in creating project plan, etc. for completing documentation. 
• Provides leadership and work guidance to less experienced personnel. 
• Follow a standardized process to edit and deliver software documentation
• Review and edit release and program-level documents for grammar, spelling, and internal consistency
• Verify document references, check that the document contains all sections mandated by the customer's templates, and ensure completeness of the list of acronyms
• Make formatting corrections to ensure compliance with the program's standards
• Regularly assist other team members
• Ensure timely delivery of documentation
• Record the status of editorial tasks in progress
• Retrieve documents from the customer's online documentation library
• Serve as the principal documentation team point of contact for a number of software maintenance projects while also supporting those projects monitored by other team members
• Follow up with document authors when assigned work isn't received by the scheduled date
• Collaborate with Section 508 Team to resolve 508 accessibility issues 
• Create document shells from customer mandated templates using the program's standard formatting and CSC branding
• Coach the business analysts, software developers, and testers who write the documents on the documentation process
• Work closely with Technical Writers and Subject Matter Experts (SME) to improve editorial and visual standards for documents and recommend new designs, layouts, and procedures as needed
• Assist agile project teams in developing technical documentation
• Collaborate with documentation team and lead to streamline the documentation workflow and/or the overall program process 
• Other work as assigned by the team lead or manager in support of the projects or program

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience 
• Bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, technical writing or related field preferred 
• Two or more years of technical writing experience 
• Experience working with desktop publishing, word processing, and on-line documentation software 
• Experience working with industry writing style such as grammar, sentence form, and structure 
• Experience working with company software products 

Other Qualifications

• Minimum 2 (two) yrs MS Word experience - required
• Minimum 2 (two) yrs experience editing and formatting documents and drafting presentations required
• Minimum 2 (two) yrs experience with all MS Office products (2007 required, 2010 experience preferred)
• Minimum 2 (two) yrs experience working with PowerPoint presentations required
• Minimum 2 (two) yrs experience supporting IT project deliverables
• Strong familiarity with MS SharePoint desired
• Proficiency with MS Word Styles and automated features within MS Word
• Strong editorial skills and attention to detail
• Familiar with agile principles and practices is a plus
• Familiar with Section 508 standards
• Ability to juggle multiple assignments
• Developed organizational skills
• Ability to learn from constructive criticism in a quality focused environment
• Commitment to process adherence
• Professional manner and strong work ethic
• Ability to manage work/track deadlines
• Must be US Citizen
• Must obtain and maintain DHS 6C Public Trust Clearance
• All work must be conducted at authorized work location, no remote work permitted

Job Posting:

https://csc.taleo.net/careersection/cscexternalcareersite/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=1400AIX&src=JB-10320

Training Guide

Additional training I would need for this position is knowledge of Section 508 standards and Microsoft Sharepoint. 

Section 508 standards PDF guide is available from Opening Doors to IT.

Microsoft Sharepoint: Microsoft offers training courses for Sharepoint. Meetdoro also has a Microsoft Sharepoint Tutorial available on Youtube.

Job Three – DTP Tech Writer

Company

Chicago Dryer Company

Description

• Manage the preparation, production, and distribution of machine operating instructions for both print and interactive PDFs
• Write, update and validate service documentation for field personnel
• Ensure that documentation complies with corporate guidelines, displays a consistent voice, and is easily understood by the end-user
• Generate/edit digital photography and simple vector illustrations
• Work on multiple products simultaneously in a fast paced environment
• Develop documentation plans, schedules, and providing status of projects and deliverables

Requirements

• Strong background in procedure development is important
• Ability to multi-task several projects in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment
• Excellent communication skills: oral, written, and editorial
• Proficient in the following Adobe software:
• InDesign (or equivalent) / Acrobat for book creation, page layout, and interactive features
• Photoshop / Illustrator for generating/editing digital photography and simple vector illustrations
• Experience working in a variety of engineering systems, including mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, gas, steam, and thermal fluid
• An ability to read schematics and pneumatic diagrams would be a strong plus
• Familiarity with AutoCAD Mechanical and/or Inventor a plus
• A strong desire to learn and grow professionally
• A fundamental understanding of graphic design/visual communication
• Ability to work with minimal supervision

Job Posting:

http://jobs.stc.org/jobseeker/job/15666520/Job%20Name:%20DTP%20Tech%20Writer/Chicago%20Dryer%20Company/?vnet=0

Training Guide

Additional training I would need for this position is knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. 

Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator: Adobe offers a set of tutorials for PhotoShop that ranges from beginner to expert levels. Adobe TV offers video tutorials for Illustrator.

Adobe Illustrator: Microsoft offers training courses for Sharepoint. Meetdoro also has a Microsoft Sharepoint Tutorial available on Youtube.

The skills that I have highlighted in each of the training guides are what I believe I need to improve or learn. These training guides will help to increase my problem solving skills, however, like Spolinsky says in her article “Problem-solving skills evolve more from using common sense and learning from past experience than from following a cookbook. There are no style guides for organizational behavior and individual behavior within organizations.” Having worked in the medical field for fourteen years I know this statement to be true, but you learn to problem-solve an issue when it arises. This is the most important skill to have in the corporate world; without it you will not be able to do your job effectively.

Source:

Soplinsky, Emily Survival Skills for Communicators with Organizations

Wait, More Education?

I find myself in a bit of a different predicament than the others within the Technical and Professional Writing program at Pittsburg State. Since I aspire to become an attorney, I will not be entering the work force upon graduation. I will be, yet again, beginning a new career in education, this time at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although Technical and Professional Writing is not always correlated with legal writing and the practice of law, writing is an integral part of it. I have spoken with many attorneys over the course of my undergraduate career. The most important question I asked them dealt with the most underrated or underplayed aspect of being a lawyer. All of them stated, without hesitation, that the ability to write concisely and efficiently was the aspect that they found to be of the utmost importance, as well as the one that was not stressed enough in their undergraduate careers. Each of these attorneys majored in Political Science and/or History. This made my decision to major in Technical and Professional Writing an easy one. Granted, I have taken courses in Political Science and Law to ensure that I do not enter law school blind, but I feel that my enhanced writing skills on behalf of Pittsburg State will put me a step ahead of those who had no practice in the field of Professional Writing. Having spoken with professors on the topic of skills normally pressed onto first year law students at Marquette and cross-referenced these with the skills that I have already learned at Pittsburg State, I have no doubt that my first year will undoubtedly be one filled with stress, but more importantly, one filled with success. I had my doubts, at first, as to whether or not I made the right decision in majoring in Technical and Professional Writing. As my career at PSU comes to a close, however, I feel like I could not have made a better decision concerning my academic career. The skills I have acquired, along with the connections I have made and the relationships I have built, have put me in the best situation imaginable for both me and my family. I cannot thank the faculty and staff enough for their guidance and support.

Caution: Pressure Added

My job title is kind of interesting and ambiguous, to a certain extent. I consider myself to be a kind of freelance writer and editor for SEK-CAP. I have had minimal contact with my supervisor and the task was left open-ended.

Since legal writing is a serious matter, the document I revise will likely need to be revised once again by a licensed attorney. I only made the changes that I felt comfortable making. Without any background in legal writing, I felt cautious to make any executive decisions, but felt that I was sufficient in my work and completing my task, which was to update the Agency's by-laws to abide by the soon-to-be federal mandate for block grants made available to non-profit organizations.

To successfully and completely finish the job, one would have to be, in my opinion, a licensed attorney, which I am not. As an intern, however, I understand that my work will be gone over again and this was merely for experience. I feel like after law school I will have the appropriate qualifications to complete a task such as this with ease.

I have practiced both document design and technical editing, for the most part, during my internship. Before I really began, I edited the entire document and made the necessary changes to verb tense, clause agreement, etc. After making the changes and insertions that I felt comfortable with, I changed the layout of the document and inserted a Table of Contents at the beginning of the document, making it useful both as a hard copy and an online document by using hyperlinks on the headings.

In a sense, I thought I would have more supervision during my internship, but I understand the difficulty in finding an attorney willing to have a shadow. I had many questions about things like wording and whether or not to make a subheading for a new statute or to create a new heading altogether. It would have been nice to have someone in the same building to answer these questions, but again, I understand the difficulty that comes with that.

It was a great experience for me to work with a legal document that carries weight. One can edit and revise assignments all day and never feel pressure. When editing something that makes a difference and is used as a guideline, pressure is added in exponents. In many aspects, I didn't feel comfortable making some changes, but I can say that I did my best as of now. In three years, I feel my best work in this field will be much, much better.

Array of Genres

The field of Technical and Professional Writing is so large and so diverse that it seems logical and necessary to have genres and possibly even sub-genres. The difficulty does not come with grouping these different sections together, the difficulty come with limiting the works to merely one genre. Works in T/P Writing can morph and transform so much that one has the potential to classify under multiple genres. The genre of Technical and Professional Writing that I had the opportunity to work with during my internship was that of Legal Writing. I revised and updated the By-Laws for a local non-profit organization by the name of SEK-CAP. Since I would like to be an attorney one day, especially in the field of contract law, I thought this would fit well.

Legal Writing is unlike any writing that I have done before. It must be very concise, so that there is limited ambiguity in the statute or revision. However, within this precision, there must be an understood vagueness, so that one revision can be interpreted and understood to cover multiple circumstances, all the while leaving no loopholes or gray areas.

Other fields that I can see this type of writing in are only other legal documents. The field of law is diverse, and each section or field has a specific vocabulary. It is a form of art, just like any other type of writing, and just like anything else, it takes multiple failures and a lot of practice before ultimately finding success.

Post-Graduation as a Technical Writer

I have a very unique situation as a technical writer. I chose this major because I knew it would be a degree as a precursor to entering law school.

This June, I will be taking the LSAT, and during the fall semester I will be applying to various law schools. Currently, my top three law schools are Indiana University in Bloomington, University of Missouri, Columbia, and the the University of Missouri Kansas City.

To apply to any of these law schools, I have to fill out several applications, create a portfolio, draft a letter of intent, and collect letters of recommendation from several professors.

My skills as a technical writer will help me to stand out among my fellow applicants for law school in several ways. A few weeks ago, Pittsburg State was visited by an English major who was not working as an English major. Joi Tribble discussed how her training as English major made her a desirable employee because of her critical reading and writing skills. These same skills will be useful when taking the LSAT, and in law school.

Skills that I still need to develop would be all law-related, such as litigation, application of past cases, and torts.

Thanks to my internship at Krimson Kultuur, I have better understanding of business and business practices. It has also taught me that I am not interested in practicing business law. Krimson Kultuur has also increased my ability to work with, help, and converse with strangers in a professional setting.

Below, I have included links to apply to take the LSAT, and links to the three law schools I mentioned earlier as my top three choices. All three are self-explanatory in regards to applications.

• http://lsac.org/
• http://www.law.missouri.edu/
•  http://law.umkc.edu/
• http://www.law.indiana.edu/