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It Does More Than Pay the Bills: Lessons from Technical Writing
By Katherine Hauswirth
When I reveal that I'm a technical writer, I don't draw an
interested crowd at parties. Sometimes even I'm not interested
in my day job, but I do count myself lucky that my affinity for
writing merged with my overriding need to pay bills. This landed
me a well paying job with fairly flexible hours. Although
grateful for the steady gig, I grumbled. Yes, I was writing for
a living, but certainly not on the topics I crave. And I was too
tired (at first) to do any real writing after the work day ended.
My friends offered, “At least you are writing.” This was like
telling a highly-trained chef who was cooking short order “At
least you are cooking.” Surely that chef would sneer and say,
“This is not cooking. It is slinging hash.”
“Hash slinging” in the technical world has provided several
lessons that have enhanced my approach to the colorful cuisine
I really go for, creative writing. Here is what I have learned:
•Time is money: Whether you write technical papers or suspenseful
tales, you must set realistic time limits. Learn not to linger over
minute details. Step back and reprioritize at least once a day.
Being realistic about your time constraints shapes your project
and task choices, guaranteeing wise use of your creative energy.
•Remember your reader: Technical writers mold disconnected data
into something understandable, thinking primarily of the reader
at every step in the process. Even as you pound out a loosely
woven first draft, enter the mind of your reader. How does your
writing serve the reader? Stick to what the reader wants and needs.
•Ask questions: In technical writing, first drafts are printed
and read with a critical eye, and the margins are quickly
crammed with questions. Is this the best way to present the
message? Can you provide more detail? Keep a list of questions
as you write: Does your character need more color? Can you try
a first-person approach?
•Have a system: High-volume work and short timelines demand
that technical writers hone a systematic approach. Having a
predictable system builds confidence and efficiency. Find yours.
Perhaps your best revisions require a hard copy, a cup of coffee,
a comfortable chair, and a green pen. Stick to your system.
Eventually the green ink will diminish and your piece will take
shape for submission.
•Criticism is not all bad: Comments on technical reports range
from ridiculous to right on target. Technical writers must be
balanced: they cannot take comments personally or ignore the
feedback of their team. Remember that a good reviewer wants you
to succeed. Carefully consider the best reviewer for the topic
you are covering, and use them early in the process.
•Take it with you: Technical writers attend a lot of meetings,
and often edit several pages while waiting for the meeting to
start. Adopting this practice at home can double your creative
productivity. Keep a knapsack with you, stuffed with files ready
for when you wait your turn at the doctor or the auto body shop.
•Let go and move on: For technical writers, the impulse to
rewrite yet again is limited by looming deadlines. To use your
writing time and energy efficiently, you may need to “back burner”
your current project and work up a new idea instead. Remember, no
writing experience gets wasted. Every project contributes to your
skills.
The last lesson I have learned is that I am not alone. Each
time I have a new list of tables and figures to edit, I remind
myself of other former “hash slingers” turned poet or novelist.
Archibald MacLeish was Director of the Office of Facts and
Figures. Don Delillo and Hart Crane wrote advertising copy
before novels and poems. Maybe I will soon join the ranks of
former technical writers. In the meantime I will study the
lessons offered by my day job.
BIO
Katherine Hauswirth is a medical writer by day and a creative
writer by stolen moments. In addition to her recent
contribution to Get Satisfied: How Twenty People Like You
Found the Satisfaction of Enough and its companion House
Party Discussion Guide, she has been published in The Writer,
Byline, The Writer's Handbook, The Writer's Guide to Fiction,
Pregnancy, and Pilgrimage. Her blog is called, Inching Towards
Simplicity: Pragmatics and Prose. Katherine is the author of
the book Things My Mother Told Me: Reflections on Parenthood.
A Long Island native, Katherine lives with her husband and son
near the Connecticut shoreline.
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