Week 2 Post 1

Each of the 4 articles took a different approach with respect to technical writing whether it was advertising for a job in technical writing, giving the nature of a real-world technical writing job, strictly defining it, or tips to improve one’s skills in this field. It is hard to actually compare them because first they all talk about the same thing but in a different way, which is good. Reading 4 articles defining technical writing would be redundant, so getting some different aspects of it is a good thing.

STC’s A Career in Technical Communication does a nice job in persuading someone to pursue a career in technical communication. By not limiting itself to “one side of the brain”, STC defines TW as a job that could be enjoyed by anyone. I think the most significant point I took from this article was that TW doesn’t require someone to do the same menial task over and over. In architecture, with various jobs for different clients, the TW that must be done for each job is constantly changing. Although architects aren’t trained specifically in TW and get most of what they need from manuals pre-prepared, they do need to tailor whatever information they need for each specific job.

US Department of Labor’s article gives a real-life perspective on TW and how it relates to countless types of writers. Because of the advances of technology, writing and communication is becoming increasingly more specialized and able to take many different forms. No one field is without some form of technical writing, so I can be assured that if the career path I am on now does not work out, any other job will require my technical writing skills.

The third article defines TW based on the amount of media through which one can expose the public to technical writing and also the number of organizations that focus on TW, most likely not a complete list. In my career, I can be assured that I won’t have to perform just technical WRITING but also have opportunities to expand on that vehicle.

Lastly, keeping it simple is the best message I get from Mr. Bly’s article. Of course technical writing is not something one would sit down at a beach and read for an extended period of time, so in order to capture one’s audience, he or she needs to be coherent and to the point. Too many words will confuse the reader, and often times what can be said in 5 sentences can often be tapered down to just a few.