sfnowak

Time is such a strange entity. It doesn’t take Einstein and his Theory of Relativity to explain how time is relative, although even he’s reputed to compare how time with a “pretty girl” passes much faster than the same amount of time sitting on a hot stove.

We speak of having a good time, or experiencing bad times. We measure ourselves by the amount of time we’ve been converting oxygen to carbon dioxide. To us, time is pretty significant.

It may not be important, though.

I always figured that time was one of those things that God made for our convenience like mass or gravity. Without mass we’d just pass other matter; without gravity, we’d just float. Absence of mass or gravity would make life far more complicated – the same with the absence of time.

On the other hand, we tend to think of being non-physical and untethered by…

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mrprocedure

One great tool for any person in any line of work is LinkedIn. Through the various LinkedIn groups, professionals can support and learn from other like-minded professionals in their chosen fields. I am an active part of two groups, “Technical Writer in Action” and “Policies and Procedures.”

A question was posted recently in the Tech. Writer in Action group, asking “What Makes an Effective Procedures Writer?” The question was asked as a poll, with the following options:

1. Technical writing and interview skills.

2. Professional procedure writer training.

3. Domain of appropriate tools.

4. All of the above.

5. Other.

My answer is “all of the above and more!” I promised the group I would provide an answer in a serialized format here on my blog. As “mrprocedure,” I feel I have something to say on this topic, and I believe that the answers lie in a broader circle than…

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Technical Writing – 1761

Technical Writing – 1761.

Tech Writer News

Note: Despite the publication date of this article, it presents us an interesting subject about technical writers. I hope you enjoy it the same way I enjoyed.

This paper was presented at the 32^nd Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication held in Dallas, Texas, March 26-28, 1981.

J. W. Dillingham

Communication Support Services, Inc.

Bedford, Texas

 I don’t usually admit this in public, but I am a “technical writer”. The term has become so generalized, representing so many types of writing and so any job functions, that few professionals wish to be called “technical writers”.

 Some basic definitions contribute toward our defining these various types of technical writing. According to accepted usage, an “author” originates written materials and/or practices writing as his or her profession; a “writer” writes as an occupation. To “edit” is to make written materials presentable for publication or presentation, but an…

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Tech Writer News

Angel Candelario Rodriguez, founder and manager of the LinkedIn group “Technical Writer in Action,” interviewed Marcia about her upcoming book Word Up! How to Write Powerful Sentences and Paragraphs (and Everything You Build From Them) on June 29, 2012. Originally posted on LinkedIn for group members; reprinted here with permission.

TWIA: Dear Marcia, thank you very much for this extraordinary opportunity.
Marcia: I’m honored, Angel. Thanks for inviting me.

TWIA: Your professional background includes technical-writer experience. How did you start your career as technical writer?
Marcia: I had just finished my Masters degree in creative writing and was looking for work, never dreaming that I could make money doing what I loved—writing—when along came a dear woman by the name of Karen Szymanski. Karen was looking for a technical-writing intern to spend the summer working for Magnavox CATV just outside of Syracuse, New York. Technical writing! I had…

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mrprocedure

First of all, I am delighted to see such an uptick in visitors to mrprocedure.com! I am so sorry the increase in interest coincided with a decrease in activity, but I will do my best to remedy that. And I am pleased with the response through the blog to my Writing Operating Procedures course. It has encouraged me to move forward to document the rest of my instructional communication/performance management strategy. Finally, a big shout out to Angel Candelario, who seems to hold the tech writer world together managing several LinkedIn groups, for reblogging and posting my stuff far and wide. It’s a challenge to keep up, but now I am a proud member of the Lean Six Sigma Canada group. 🙂

Now, why the title? I’m sure you have heard the story of the woodcutter, furiously sawing large logs into smaller logs. A pile of logs the size of a…

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TechDocs

It’s been awhile since I wrote my own blog-post and what inspired me to do it was that I’ve been watching the business culture of companies over a period of time, and so I decided to write about it.

Problem solving is often a task which goes into decline when we or our business are not fit.

The hard-earned truth is we need a good training program, some hard-earned business blood, sweat and tears to succeed sometimes, no? So what’s the secret?

What I’ve learned from life, and from business is as follows:

1. Democracy is not democracy if you don’t have someone in charge. If you aren’t the one pulling the stops then you’ll be creating a business culture which does not enable you to earn a living…..How long should you be spending on tasks anyway?
2. Digging up the dirt sometimes entails lying in it for a bit. If it…

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mrprocedure

I apologize that I have not had any updates on my MadCap adventure. I will return to that shortly, and I do thank those of you who have chosen to follow or have “liked” Mr. Procedure.

But this is about the free offer I have made before in this space as well as in several groups on LinkedIn. Over the past four or so months, I have been offering my course called Writing Operating Procedures free to anyone who wrote. Those who originally replied received a course-in-preparation (it was about 3/4 complete). I have since completed the course, made it a course/book format (meaning it functions as a stand-alone book as well as for a text for in-person training), and cleaned up a lot of stuff I am embarrassed to have provided the first time. I have distributed slightly over 100 copies of the course, in .pdf format, and have…

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Tech Writer News

Angel Candelario Rodriguez, founder and manager of the LinkedIn group “Technical Writer in Action,”  interviewed  award-winning and best-selling author Don Keith on November 23, 2011. Originally posted on LinkedIn for group members; reprinted here with permission.

Award-winning and best-selling author Don Keith has written or co-written 22 books of fiction and non-fiction including Final Patrol: True Stories of World War II Submarine and more.

Keith has lived in the South all his life. He attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he received his degree in broadcast and film communication with a minor in English and literature. While working as a broadcast journalist, he won awards from the Associated Press and United Press International for news writing and reporting.

Keith is also the co-author of a novel, FIRING POINT. The book is the basis for a major motion picture, now in pre-production, to be titled HUNTER KILLER.

Very kindly, Don…

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