Career Options and New Directions in Technical Communication

© 2010 Ugur Akinci Technical communication is a lot more than just “technical writing.” Every year new directions and career options emerge that keep our field fresh and exciting. Here are some of them to consider to redefine and redirect your career: Distance Education – Specialize in distance education by learning how to put together…

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Google Docs Presentation Application

© 2010 Ugur Akinci You can use this FREE application to create online presentations that you can reach from anywhere… as long as you have access to the Internet. I actually prepared the following presentation by using Google Docs Presentation:

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The Importance of Writing Perfect Checklists

Ask yourself: would you be willing to fly in an airplane flown by a pilot who relies on his or her “memory and track record” rather than a detailed and time-tested checklist? I wouldn’t. The deeper question is: if checklists are perfect and indispensable for flying airplanes safely and reliably, then why don’t we use…

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How to Become a Technical Writer

(A personal account published at Tom Johnson’s excellent blog) by Sarah Pruitt Deciding to become a technical writer was easy. But finding the experience and the time has proven unforgiving. My job is not based on writing; in fact, writing is rarely needed. Between working full-time at a bank doing account maintenance (which is equivalent…

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How to Write a Technical Reference Manual as a Team

What are the things you should keep in mind if you’re working as a part of a writing team authoring a reference manual? Or what are the things you should keep in mind if you are managing such a team of technical writers? Here is a good blog post by Lesley Hays, an Aussie technical…

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Technical Writing – What is DITA?

© Ugur Akinci DITA is an acronym which stands for Darwin Information Typing Architecture. It is a method of technical writing and publishing based on XML (Extensible Markup Language). Just like the web language HTML is based on tags like <title>, <p>, etc. XML is also based on tags some of which it shares with…

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Transparency and Clarity: Hallmark of Modern Technical Communication

Transparency and clarity are two of the most important characteristics of modern technical communication. Most such communication is directed at end users and consumers who are more than ever demanding transparency and clarity in the information products that they consume. Disclosures of every kind are now a regular part of almost all forms of technical…

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How to Use Twitter to Promote Your Writing Services

© 2009 Ugur Akinci There is a good way to use the Twitter to promote your writing services, and another way that’s not that good. I’m finding these things out myself by trial and error and I wanted to share some of my findings with you. 1) Always share something useful and relevant, either by…

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Writers: Searching Through the Job Ads is not Marketing

© Ugur Akinci Generally speaking, we writers are not good at marketing our services. We love what we do and yet expect to be “discovered” and paid well for it too. Think again. This blog entry was prompted by an email from an obviously-very-qualified reader who asked whether she needs to get a technical writing…

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