One American Writer

How NOT to make money as a technical writer

I just talked my favorite client into updating his own document. 

"You did what?" 

I know you won't find that tip in any book called How To Make Tons of Money Writing Boring Documents (hey, maybe that's my next book!  Nah, you write it).

But in this case, that is best for the client, and for the readers of his documentation.

I did the same thing on software teams.  I would explain to the god-like developer (actually some were VERY nice), "Either you can explain the software to me, and I will document it, or you can write down how it works, and I will confirm it and edit the content."

Ideally, I would get access to every user-level of the software and be trained on it, or be given time to learn and use it, plus have access to actual software users who are willing to take time to tell me/show me how they use the tool, where they get stumped, and what they'd like to see in user documentation.

Ideally, the software developer has done this before in the requirements-gathering stage, before development started. 

Yeah, right.

My point is, when you help your clients help themselves, your job is easier in the end.  I will receive a draft updated by the man who knows the tool inside and out (I HOPE), and I will learn the tool as I prove his instructions are accurate.  Then I will polish the document in ways too complex and mysterious to explain here.

Tada!  I am SO wise.  Uh oh.  I think I stood too close to a software developer.

If you are working independently, check out my updated book, "How to Make Money While You Look for a Job."  The e-book edition is free for folks who join my Seven Steps to Money motivational list. 

Write Away!
Donna 

Ant Massacre at Divinity Vines

The scene of the mayhem is my kitchen, Divinity Vines being the name of our property, where we are using bottled coyote pee pee to keep the deer from nibbling our new vines.  Grapes next year, and perhaps wine the year after that!

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, where it was 92 degrees yesterday (the AC is working today, thank GOD), ant corpses litter the counter edges where my sponge swiped a path through water-melon juice and the tiny, feasting army.

It was good to wake at a normal hour, seven A.M. being a bit later than I like to get up.  The night before, however, I went to bed at midnight but couldn't sleep.  I got up at 1 A.M. to work a bit, and then the sun came up! 

Eight hours later, I had FINALLY updated my book (How to Make Money While You Look for a Job) with the really great content Chuck wrote for me, and with my interview with Peter Prestipino, Editor in Chief at Website Magazine.

When I was laid off in November I said, "The first thing I have to do is update my book."  But I did everything except that.

Here's what happened: My chicken-self went to bed and my writer-self got out of bed.  I snuck up on myself.

Here's what's happening now: I am completing the update and writing the press release, but first, I must more thoroughly cleanse the kitchen of my slain enemy's corpses, and never leave water-melon rind on my counter overnight again!

Ants, 37,289,983,883

Humans, 1.  

CNN Top 50 Jobs Lists Technical Writer at 28

CNN reports the median salary for an experienced technical writer is $67,400 with the high range at $99,600.  Technical Writer is listed as #28 on the top 50 jobs in America.

Some readers commenting on the article state that they achieved their positions without formal training or a college degree.

Others comment that the job can be a bit risky because technical writers tend to be the first to go when companies reduce staff.

All true.  The salary is great; if you write clearly and you quickly grasp technical concepts, you can work your way into a job, but you can get laid off before your coworkers.

Project and product managers are both higher on the list, and I know from experience that they, along with trainers, tend to quickly follow their tech-writer coworkers in the lay-off lines.

Technical writing can be lonely work, and some software developers think they are God so you have to work well with all personality types (most are VERY nice).  I recommend this for writers -- it pays much better than freelance work in most cases.  The article lists job openings in each field, so check it out.

My Fellow Chickens

My Fellow Chickens,

Like water washing over my parched nervous system, I read these words moments ago.  "He rewrote pieces twenty times or more and sometimes pleaded with the postmaster of North Brooklin, Maine, to return a just-mailed manuscript so he could punch up its ending or rewrite the lead. 

"In addition to being a consummate rewriter, White was a gifted procrastinator."  E. B. White, of course.  Woo hoo!  I already know I'm not alone in my fear, but it feels SO GOOD to  know I am in such good company.

And you?  How chicken are you? This might help.

This recent post from copyblogger, 5 Reasons Why Trying to Be Successful Will Keep You Poor, is really about fear, too, and overcoming it.

I especially like this from #5 in his post: "If success is achieved by taking repeated, meaningful action, then what happens if you’re not confident enough to take the actions that scare the crap out of you?"

YEAH.  The message I took away from this is RELAX INTO IT.  You can't do it (write, publish, start a business) to be successful.  You have to do it because it is meaningful to you. 

And DON'T LET FEAR STOP YOU.

The E.B. White quote above is from a book I serendipitously found in a used bookstore today, "The Courage to Write; How Writers Transcend Fear" by Ralph Keyes.  I can't wait to read the rest of the book to find out!

Mr. White is further quoted as considering himself, "....the second most inactive writer living, and the third most discouraged."

Let's be BRAVE, shall we?  If he did it, we can do it.  Good. Now, I'm going to bed.  I'll be brave in the morning.

Ggggood Night,
Donna, One American Writer

Caution to new journalists: If you tend to shovel food while writing on deadline, eat salad! That left-over pizza made good breakfast just now, but watch out! Also, regarding the myth that writers are heavy drinkers, ignore the urge to drink wine at breakfast, no matter how good the bottle! I'm on deadline again for a small-town paper so small that it doesn't have a Web site. Yet. More later.

Summer Publishing Project

It's the first day of summer vacation. The kids are in bed but the cat woke me up so I am up at six thirty in the morning, blogging.  I could have gone back to sleep but if I want to work for myself, I have to work for myself.  (The job search can wait until after breakfast.)

If you have kids on your hands for the summer, or your have yourself on your hands (like my remaining coworkers who were laid off last Friday -- happy first week of freedom!), why not try a publishing project?

Last summer when my friend Ruth Anne invited us to her beach house on Harker's Island, I told her about Lulu and Create Space and I suggested that her kids write and publish a guide to the island from a kid's perspective.  I'll best it would sell alongside the homemade fudge in the gift shop.

Here's how it works:

1. Pick a fun topic to write about.
2. Write the book (see other posts for tips in that).
3. Edit the book or ask a friend who is nuts about grammar to help you.
4. Go to Lulu.com or CreateSpace.com to get the template and format the manuscript in Microsoft Word or another word-processing program.
5. PDF the book and submit it per their instructions.
6. Order a proof copy for under $10.

Tada! You have your book in your hands.  

For more serious book projects,there are many, many services that will charge you hundreds of dollars for a similar process, but I recommend starting with a free service because it helps you learn what it feels like to have your published book in your hands.  It makes you ask, "Now what?" The answer is, "Now you have to market your book!"

For more on publicizing your book, see Linda's great information at lindarohrbough.com. She taught an excellent seminar at a North Carolina Writers' Network conference and I'm still trying to work up the nerve to do what she suggests.

Of course, you could pick a depressing topic, too.  Seriously.  People who are looking for work and considering downsizing need to hear from other people who are also going through those transitions.  I remember how much it helped when I read about women going through a mid-life crisis when I felt like I was on the wrong planet.  Those of us who are in career transition at the same time that our parents are failing can be especially vulnerable to a crisis, so share what you're going through.  It helps.

Or, a publishing project like, "How To Start a Lawn-Mowing Service" could help you and the kids.  You can relax while they are out of the house, or you can step it up a notch and start a landscape service yourself.  It can be a lot more fun than sitting in an office cubicle doing someone else's work.

Happy Writing!
One American Writer Up Early on the First Day of Summer

Pounce when you find the right publisher

When you happen upon a publisher that publishes titles similar to the one you are working on, do quick research to learn how to submit your book idea.

Listening to National Public Radio (NPR.org) in the car just now, I decided to add the following item to the book I'm working on, "One Hundred Reasons to Work for Yourself:"

#26. You can stay in the car and listen when NPR is in the middle of a great story like the Diane Rehm Show interview with William Alexander, author of “52 Loaves; One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust.”

I clicked the publisher's link instead of the Amazon.com link and saw titles that would look very natural next to "100 Reasons to Work for Yourself," so I poked around for submission guidelines.  They do accept unsolicited submissions!

I subscribe to Writer's Market on-line, so I will also look there to research them further, but you can do the same by reading the guidelines on-line. 

Your book proposal is supposed to contain a paragraph describing where on the bookstore shelf your book would be placed, so do this.  Go to the bookstore and find the spot where your book should sit when it is published.  Look up the publishers of the books on that shelf and research their submission guidelines.  Start seriously thinking about getting your own book published.

Don't be nervous!  Well, OK, you can't help it, but put that nervous energy to work!  Anyone have any spare courage lying around?

Your Yeah-Right List

The trouble with making a to-do list is that when I write down a task, I get a sense of accomplishment. I think, "There, I wrote it down.  Good for me!" That feeling is so close to, "There, I did it!" that it gets me into trouble.

The act of creating the to-do list satisfies my urge to get things done.

I was so happy with myself yesterday for emailing myself a to-do list, but then what did I do?  I patted myself on the back, looked smug, and created a video for YoTutube, which was not on my list.  (I created the OneAmericanWriter channel on YouTube,)

The video was part of my homework (Master Certificate in Online Marketingfrom the University of San Fransisco), so I deserved to feel good about getting it done, but was it my top priority?  If it was, there is something wrong with my list.

I'll do what I know other folks do.  I'll add "create video and post to Youtube" to my list, just so I can check it off. 

You can make a did-it list instead of a to-do list, too.  It's a bit of positive reinforcement that you are getting things accomplished.  But if you find yourself making a yeah-right list and never getting to the items on your to-do list, rethink your strategy and GO WRITE THAT BOOK OR ARTICLE!

Weed-wack or write? Weed-wack or write?

If you need to paint the garage and you've been putting it off, resolve to write a book.  Suddenly, the painting and weed-wacking you've been meaning to do get done!  And aren't you proud of yourself?  You feel good, and you relegate the nagging bad feeling about the book to a corner of your psyche where you don't look very often.

I'm telling on myself, of course.

Do you see yourself in there?

So if your honey-do list is long, your significant other will be very happy that you have become a writer.  The lawn will look great, the garage will get painted, the floors will sparkle and -- quick -- get to a library and write that book.  All librarians are trained to say, "No, thank you" when writers ask them if they need help stacking books.

UNRELATED WHAT IF:

What if political candidates at every level had to first work three years at a Walmart store and live on the salary in order to qualify to run for office?

You want this? Writer anxiety comes with the job.

Woke up before 3 AM and knew I couldn't go back to sleep.  Tried anyway but got up at about 3:30.  Searched online for "writer anxiety" and surprisingly found results from several ".edu" sources.

The description that enticed me to click said, "...turn anxiety into creativity."  Here's a quick quote:

"In other words, you’re a clone of the Charlie Kaufman character in ‘Adaptation’-- bleary-eyed, unshaven, sleep-deprived, staring pathetically at the empty computer screen, hoping for inspiration and yearning for another cup of coffee, and maybe a nice banana-nut muffin. A dozen nagging, self-mocking thoughts echo in your head: You’re untalented, a fraud. You’re getting old and fat. No woman (or man) will ever want to sleep with you again. Your life is over."

Aha, I am not alone!

And one more line:

"And, as I’ve said countless times to the writer clients in my practice, struggling with these doubts and fears doesn’t say anything about you as a writer. Other than that you ARE a writer."

In my practice?  The author is a pro?  There is therapy for writers?

The article is from The Writer's Store at WritersStore.com, by  Dennis Palumbo, a "psychotherapist specializing in  creative issues," according to an interview with him on his site, DennisPalumbo.com.

And he's right -- my sleeplessness and burning doubt are grist for the mill.  He says, "This is particularly true for writers, whose very feelings are the raw materials of their craft"

This will make it into the book.  I remember the same energy waking me up before dawn when I was writing articles for gantthead.com and techrepublic.com (project management and info-tech sites) .  It came in very handy, too, because I was working full-time then, in addition to writing freelance articles.  If anxiety hadn't woken me up, I wouldn't have had time to write.

So if you're thinking about writing, get ready for the jitters and doubts.  I've just started farming, too, and that hasn't caused anxiety.  That just gets me dirty -- I shower and start all over again.  But I can't not write, so for now, I'll read the rest of the article, then see if I can shower off some of this dirty anxiety.