Tag Archives: technical writing

Don’t be normal!

Posted on 14 February 2010 by David Farbey

Microsoft Word is a wonderful product, and I’m not joking at all. It’s easy to forget that not so long ago, back in the days of BW (“before Word”), creating documents for any purpose was a long and tiresome process. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Farbey’s Law of Document Stability

Posted on 29 January 2010 by David Farbey

The other day, I was making final revisions to a group of Microsoft Word documents that were needed for an imminent product release. I placed an updated version of a document on our document management system and sent a link … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 8 Comments

A little more advice for job seekers

Posted on 5 December 2009 by David Farbey

The topic of finding work as a technical writer came up on a mailing list I subscribe to recently, and I want to share some advice here. I have been a job seeker in this market many times, and I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

What not to say to a technical writer

Posted on 20 November 2009 by David Farbey

Last week a blog post by fellow technical writer Colum McAndrew (who I was delighted to meet in person at the London Tech Writers Social) raised a lot of responses on Twitter. Colum’s topic was Top 10 technical writer annoyances. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Getting started advice for would-be technical writers

Posted on 3 November 2009 by David Farbey

The following question appeared on a mailing list for technical writers that I subscribe to: Would a technical writing or technical communication graduate *certificate* (rather than a master’s) be useful in trying to find a technical writing job for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Watch that space! (more from TCUK09)

Posted on 26 September 2009 by David Farbey

When Kath Straub gave her presentation on Reading beyond the words: How text formatting can enhance the readability and persuasiveness of text at the Technical Communications UK 2009 (TCUK09) Conference she created an unexpected storm. That’s probably because what Kath … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Is there such a thing as a “Programmer/Writer”?

Posted on 12 September 2009 by David Farbey

In a recent discussion thread on LinkedIn, someone asked for opinions about the job description for a vacancy for a “Programmer/Writer”. Was it possible they asked, for someone to be both a software programmer and a technical writer? Was it … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

User Documentation Survey 2009

Posted on 9 September 2009 by David Farbey

I’ve just launched my latest user documentation survey – click here to take part. Please do take part (it will only take you five minutes), and please pass this invitation on to anyone who might be interested. I’d like to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments