Don't be mean to non-writers.

I've gotten better at writing since I started being a technical writer. And sometimes my pride in myself verges on smugness.

I came across this blog post, that helped me remember how important it is to be humble, and stay off high horses. This line in particular hit me:

"The idea that there is only one right way of doing English – and everyone else is doing it wrong – is inherently flawed. And by “flawed” I mean illogical, elitist and even oppressive"

The point is, worry about your own writing, and learning more every day. It's one thing to help people learn from a place of respect, and another thing to cut them down for not being as awesome as you are.

Tips for Queenslanders dealing with hail in their driveways

This afternoon saw pretty impressive storms in and around Brisbane, leaving some people with hail in their driveways and on their lawns.

I grew up shovelling my driveway in the wintertime. For the readers who are at a loss on how to get started, I found this piece of technical communication that should help.

One more day for submissions!

There is one more day to submit your entries for the STC Australia Chapter's Technical Communications competition. Don't procrastinate any longer!

Competition details are here. Entry form is here. Payment information is here.

Good luck!

Passive voice bookend.

I started my holiday with an image of some bad passive voice.
This is a less bad example, but I wonder why they didn't tell customers to "Purchase tickets at the Fire-Fly counter"?

New payment methods available for competition entries.

I didn't want this to get lost in the previous post.

We're now accepting online credit card payments for competition entries using TryBooking's secure payment service. You can pay online at http://www.trybooking.com/CDCC and http://www.trybooking.com/37234.

Additionally, you can make a bank transfer to the STC Australia Chapter's bank account. For the bank account details, email the treasurer at treasurer@stc-aus.org.au.

Good luck!

Deadline for STC Australia Chapter Technical Communication Competition 2012 submissions extended!

Goodness gracious, saints alive!

You read that right, you now have some precious extra days to make a submission to the STC Australia Chapter's Technical Communication Competition. Entries are now being accepted until Friday 16 November 2012

So finish touching up that manual, diagram, or insanely awesome report, and get it submitted!

Here is a quick read for more information. Competition details are here. Entry form is here.

Good luck!

List of Books on Tech Writing

Here is the beginning of our list of books about technical writing and books that double as useful tools for technical writers:

• Hackos, JoAnn, Managing Your Documentation Projects (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1994)
• DeRespinis, Francis et al., The IBM Style Guide (Upper Saddle River, NJ: IBM Press Books, 2012)
• Rosenberg, Barry J., Spring into Technical Writing (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley, 2005)
• The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010)
• Brooks, Fred, The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering (Anniversary Edition) (Addison Wesley, 1995)
• Kernighan, Brian and Ritchie, Dennis, The C Programming Language (ANSI C) (Prentice Hall, 1988)

Please comment and tell us which books have been important to you in your role as a technical writer.

Note: Tim Hildred is on holiday until mid-November. Zac Dover is blogging in his absence. 

The Case for Writing about Tech Writing

Technical writing, being a fairly recently-emergent discipline, is still in the process of developing a set of standards and protocols. In this, it distinguishes itself from well-defined disciplines such as mathematics, empirical science, deductive logic, and (even) cooking.

Despite the field's incipient nature, technical writing has been described in a number of books that are worth study and discussion.