Writing

Help Authoring / Technical Writing / Tools / Writing

Choosing a Documentation Tool…Part 1

For many years, I have worked with hi-tech companies, creating their documentation and/or online help using a variety of industry-standard tools. In recent weeks, two companies have asked me to help evaluate their current and expected future needs to determine the best tool for them. In each case, I created an extensive presentation with the following sections: Goal (Part 2) Current Situation (Part 3) Requirements (Part 4) Options (Part 5) - Coming soon Costs (Part 6) - Coming soon Recommendation (Part 7) - Coming soon…

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April 17, 2013
Technical Writing / Writing

Estimating the Impossible

Earlier today, I had a very enjoyable conversation with an Israeli company that works primarily in Africa. They want to hire WritePoint to write a document, one of many, we hope. The person with whom I spoke is new to the company and wants to improve the existing documentation. Amazingly enough, perhaps even close to unique, he isn't in a rush. There are no firm deadlines - just a lot of documentation that he calls "Hebrew written in…

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September 12, 2012
Technical Writing / Uncategorized / Writing

Is Editing a Document Enough?

I can't tell you how many times a company has come to me and said they have an editing job for us. The content is there, they explain, it's just a matter of editing it. Last week, a client came with this exact comment. Now, there are times when the client genuinely means this. Editing IS enough. Perhaps it is an internal document - one that will be passed around within the company. The expected audience knows the…

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August 29, 2012
Help Authoring / Technical Writing / Tools / Writing

Today’s Technical Writer

Today's technical writer needs to be so much more than he or she once was. When I first started on the path to becoming a technical writer 19 years ago, the tools were more basic and infinitely more limited. WinHelp was about as cutting edge as there was.  The first company to hire me, Scitex, was a huge Israeli hi-tech company that broke tasks into tiny pieces and hired people to do them. My skills included: the fundamentals…

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August 14, 2012