Here’s a mosaic of experiences I’ve had that have coalesced to point me toward a career in Technical Writing.

My Love of Writing

As a lover of arts and literature, I enjoy sharing ideas, learning new concepts, and communicating with others. One of my favorite outlets is writing poetry, as I can craft my ideas and distill them into very small lines of text. This has, serendipitously, enhanced my technical writing, as I often have to express something with the fewest words possible. (I’ve often said writing good UI text is like writing good Haiku.)

My Love of Technology

One of my favorite presents as a pre-teen was my first personal computer, the TI-994A, from Texas Instruments, circa 1982. I can still remember taking it out of the package, and caressing its brushed silver shell. I even remember the “new electronics” smell that emanated from the box it came in, and wondered what amazing things I could do with my very own computer. I was 12 years old then. Within a year or so, I taught myself BASIC and was writing programs for fun. I subscribed to all the latest magazines that published code for the TI, and would learn tricks from other programmers. Even cooler, my mother got a job at Texas Instruments, which afforded me many cool games and other “bennies”.

My next PC was an old hand-me-down IBM PC (seen to the left) with DOS as the operating system, built in 1985. In college I installed an internal hard-card with a whopping 20MB of space, something I thought should be enough to hold the known universe, with left-over room for more.

After a few years, I gave that PC to a friend and entered the Apple world with my first Macintosh (seen to the right). The Mac was my computer throughout college. In the early 90’s I came back to PCs with Windows 3.1, and have stayed almost exclusively in the Microsoft world ever since, although my next laptop will likely be an Apple.

Several temp agencies have required that I take proficiency exams on PC software. I have always scored Advanced (90th percentile or higher), and in one or two cases, I’ve scored the highest of any employee in their records.

My Love of Psychology

My undergraduate at Earlham College was in Psychology. I have always been fascinated with the human mind, and the education I got Earlham was fantastic. Most Psychology undergrads do little in the area of clinical tests, observations and statistical analysis. However, Earlham stressed a very hands-on approach. While pursuing my major, I participated in or designed four different clinical studies on the student population. My senior thesis was in the area of Learned Helplessness (Seligman) where I solely designed and conducted studies on 40 students, testing to see how frustration affects a person’s ability to learn new tasks.
While pursuing my major, I came within one or two classes from a minor in both French and Economics, two other passions of mine. And in the area of computer science, I took a class in PASCAL, where I ended up serving as the teacher’s aid to other students who were new to programming.

My Love of Teaching

While talking with friends one day, I discovered that a local chapter of the Salvation Army needed a teacher to teach English as a second language to immigrants seeking US citizenship. I felt compelled to help, and so I designed an entire curriculum with text books and audio cassettes. It was a deeply fulfilling endeavor, as I got to meet people from around the world, from different cultures, social norms, and values. Having already lived in Europe twice, I’ve always appreciated understanding other people’s point-of-view, bridging the gap between cultures, and watching how those connections affect my worldview.

In the process of teaching others, I found a love to offer instruction to others, and to empower them to try new experiences. Michael Chang, the captain of this chapter, sent me a letter of recommendation for my efforts.

Years later, those same skills were needed by RealNetworks, as they needed someone to train all their Tech Support managers on some of their software. I created 18 different training presentations in PowerPoint, and used them as an instructional tool in a corporate classroom setting. Everyone involved said the endeavor was a success.

Finding a Home: Technical Writing

In 1997, I was working for a software company as a Technical Support Representative. It was a small dot-com startup named Software Builders International (later renamed NetZIP). The lead development manager needed a writer to write the next User’s Manual for the company’s flagship product. He was disappointed with the previous contractor and pulled me aside to work on the manual.

In the process of creating the manual, I found that I really had a passion for what I was doing. I enjoyed the creative process and communicating these ideas to others (my love of writing and teaching), understanding the user’s needs and meeting those needs (my love of psychology), and I enjoyed learning new technologies and shaping the future of software (my love of technology).

Shortly after writing my first manual, I was offered a job as the company’s lead technical writer. A few years later, RealNetworks purchased NetZIP, and so I moved to Seattle where I joined Real’s staff as a full time employee. Since 2001, I have also worked as a contractor at Microsoft. At Microsoft, I’ve had the pleasure to work with some of the best writers in the industry, and to contribute to some of the most well known software programs in the world, such as MSN Messenger.