Summary
This is the first collection of narratives by practicing technical communicators telling their own personal stories about the workplace and their lives on the job.The authors portray a wide range of jobs: writers, editors, interface designers, marketing writers, and trainers working in 9 different technical fields, including software, R&D, engineering , medicine, transportation, and telecommunications. The stories vividly demonstrate the unique power of narrative as a teaching and learning tool. Unlike fabricated cases, these real-life narratives show new and veteran technical writers at work on the job, dealing with tasks, clients, and co-workers, and revealing their insights, values, and attitudes about their work. The stories also show the skills required in the profession and the ethical and other issues raised in the course of the workday.For anyone interested in technical communication and professional writing.
Table of Contents
Preface |
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Part I Initiation Stories |
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I'm a Nibbie: The Tale of an Object-Oriented GUI Developer |
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3 | (6) |
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9 | (8) |
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17 | (6) |
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23 | (11) |
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34 | (5) |
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39 | (5) |
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44 | (6) |
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It's Not Mark Twain's River Anymore |
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50 | (11) |
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Part II The Process |
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61 | (70) |
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Three Months, Three Pages |
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63 | (6) |
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Conquering the Cubicle Syndrome |
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69 | (5) |
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Try and Try Again: The Story of a Software Project |
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74 | (16) |
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Tech Writing and the Art of Laziness |
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90 | (3) |
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I've Been Working on the Railroad: Re-Vision at BNP Railway |
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93 | (9) |
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102 | (4) |
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106 | (8) |
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114 | (13) |
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127 | (4) |
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Part III Life On and Off the Job |
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131 | (60) |
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133 | (16) |
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It Isn't What You Write That Makes You a Tech Writer: A Love Story |
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149 | (6) |
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155 | (6) |
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Madame Mao in the Midwest |
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161 | (5) |
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166 | (12) |
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Afterword: Talking to the People Who Know |
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178 | (13) |
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Further Reading on Narrative and Writing in the Workplace |
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191 | |