(Please pardon my triple-posting that link! I just couldn't resist trying my hand at #TechWriting down the blog post to a tiny one-toot summary, as an unsolicited public service.

(Wasn't I saying just yesterday that I don't like taking my day job home with me? Sigh…)

I'm writing that blog post about converting from OneNote to Obsidian, I'm up to 1700 words and I'm only 2/3rds of the way there on the first draft. Don't think I'll be done today! #techwriting

@lunareclipse I really appreciate Intuit’s public nature of their writing style guides. In particular, their “Anti-Racist language” article: https://contentdesign.intuit.com/accessibility-and-inclusion/anti-racist-language/

I’ve been shamelessly borrowing it as a model to introduce similar work into #knowledgemanagement and #techwriting publishing at my company. There are terms I hadn’t even considered in their list.

#antiracism

In preparation for the book launch, I decided to print a set of business cards I could hand out if I end up in a conversation about the book and someone asks where they can buy it. One side has a picture of the cover, while the other has basic contact info and a QR code that goes to the shop page.

#writing #publishing #author #TechWriting #TechPublishing

It's happening! I just submitted the final, edited PDF proof of my new book How To Write A Tech Book!

Now I wait for the print proof to arrive for my final approval and then I can publish. If the proof arrives quickly and is error-free I hope to launch the book the week of July 31st.

In the mean time you can check out a sample chapter (Chapter 1: The Idea) here: https://kylerank.in/htwatb_sample_chapter.pdf

#writing #TechWriting #publishing #TechnicalWriting #author

I get folks not knowing what a Developer Advocate’s job is exactly but I’m surprised to see similar confusion in #TechWriting job descriptions: “Support general technical writing duties (e.g. meeting minutes, action items, agendas, reports, meeting materials, standard operating procedures, policies, guidance documents, and other technical deliverables)”.

Do folks think “technical writer” is this decade’s “administrative assistant”? 🤔 Or, probably they just want to pay one person instead of two?

A couple months ago , I had the opportunity to discuss what a day in the life of a technical writer looks like with a group of university students participating in Google's Tech Exchange. It was a wonderful experience and they posed many insightful questions, which reminded me that I have this discussion frequently enough that it's worth writing down in a more permanent nature.

https://todhilton.com/words/about-tech-writing/

#TechExchange #TechnicalWriting #TechWriting

“Threads does not federate its posts. However, in the future, it—“

(Me, a technical writer): Okay, gonna stop you there. Threads is not federated. Got it, thanks. #TechWriting

#introduction

Hey! I'm Tom, and I was a #UXdesigner for Soda Studio, Apple, Lightspeed, and Prss. I'm recovering from #burnout and exploring what career I want to pursue. Could be #techwriting, could be #iosdevelopment, could be anything outside of IT. Time will tell what makes me the happiest!

Most importantly I'm a dad and live with my #autism. I love being a #parent, scratching my own itches with #Shortcuts and I listen to #falloutboy every single day. I'm stuck in 2005, music-wise.

I’ve been trying to help my in-laws use Gmail in a web browser. Today I learned they didn’t know how to open an email from the inbox. I tried to find a video or instructions but everyone assumes you know to click the email to open it. So I spent an hour writing some extremely bespoke #documentation for a very specific audience.
#TechWriting

Fiction writers who worked as technical writers

I keep a running list of notable fiction writers who worked as technical writers. I have a hunch there were a lot more. It's normally only mentioned as an aside in their bios, and technical writers rarely get bylines so it can be hard to track down the work. Recently, I found a new one to add, the amazing Roxane Gay. So, I present to you my list, along with evidence:

https://rinsemiddlebliss.com/posts/2023-06-26-fiction-writers-who-worked-as-technical-writerss/

#TechnicalWriting #TechnicalWriters #TechWriting #sff #BookBlogger #blog #blogging

🎉 Celebrating my 3rd month on #Medium with a reflective article! I'm sharing my achievements and top tips for writing engaging #TechArticles. Don't miss it! 👩‍💻🚀
#WritingCommunity #TechWriting #ContentCreation

https://qtalen.medium.com/unlocking-success-how-i-made-a-beginning-on-medium-technical-writing-a2eaa5b38e27

Wrote a tour through "The Book of Apshai", a most unusual and personally formative computer game manual from 1985.

https://fogknife.com/2023-05-31-the-book-of-apshai-a-personal-exegesis-.html

#Videogames #TechWriting #Retrocomputing #RPGs

#DevRel and #TechWriting peeps, how do you run #UserResearch to figure out how to increase engagement with your #documentation ? How do you figure out why certain user groups who'd benefit don't use your docs and solve those pain points?

Your brain can cope with up to five hours of writing a day; beyond that, the quality will drop.

#writingTips #writing #techWriting

Though grammatical rules are not absolutes, don't ignore them. The grammatically correct phrase is often the clearest one.

#writingTips #writing #techWriting

Got to do a couple of Information Architecture projects this week. I did an IA overhaul for one of our SDK doc sets last year, and it took me about 8 days. Now that I have a good model to follow, I did two more in less than a day each this week.

It’s just wild how much more discoverable information becomes with a good IA. I love making improvements like this.

#techwriting #techWriterLife

My fingers just don’t move as fast as my brain. 😂

#writing #techwriting #creativewriting

It's more important to be clear than grammatically correct ("This is the sort of English, up with which I will not put" -- W. Churchill)

#writingTips #writing #techWriting

You can break down most technical writing into a series of "arcs," each showing technology solving a problem.

#writingTips #writing #techWriting