Writing and Editing Jobs — 10/23/2009
October 23, 2009 by John Hewitt · Leave a Comment
- Copywriter — Baltimore, MD
- Copywriter — Getty Images – New York, NY
- Copywriter — VML, Inc. – Seattle, WA
- Copywriter — BCBG Max Azria – Los Angeles, CA
- Copywriter — Venetian Resort Hotel-Casino – Las Vegas, NV
- Editor — Village Voice Media – Orange County, CA
- Assistant Editor — University of California, Davis – Davis, CA
- Editor — Synectics Inc. – Chicago, IL
- Lifestyle Editor — Mattel – Middleton, WI
- Fitness & Nutrition Writers — livestrong.com
- Senior Writer/Editor — Family Life Communications – Tucson, AZ
- Proposal Writer- Freelance – Sharp Decisions – New York, NY
- Freelance Technical Writers – globalfreeelancers – New York, NY
- Science Writer — University of Arizona – Tucson, AZ
- Assistant Professor of Creative Writing (Fiction) — Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
- Program Coordinator, Poetry Paths — Franklin & Marshall College , Lancaster, PA
- Visiting Position in Poetry — St. Lawrence University, English – Canton, NY
- Web Writer/Editor — ESRI – Redlands, CA
- Web Editor — Harvard University – Boston, MA
- Web Editor — Wellesley College – Wellesley Hills, MA
- Proofreader — TBWA World Wide – New York, NY
- Proofreaders — Progressive Information Technologies – Emigsville, PA
- Freelance Proofreader — Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. – Hauppauge, NY
- Technical Writer – AMEC – Westford, MA
- Technical Writer — Northrop Grumman – New Carrollton, MD
- Technical Writer — Life Cycle Engineering – Philadelphia, PA
- Technical Writer – Royal Offering Inc – Atlanta, GA
- Technical Writer – Forest Laboratories, Inc. – Commack, NY
- Reporter/Multi Media Journalist — EW Scripps – Kansas City, Missouri
- Reporter — The Hollister Free Lance – Hollister, CA
- Consumer Reporter — Tribune – Hartford, CT
- Technical Editor — Paxus – Australia
- Technical Writer – Open Text Corp. – Ottawa, ON
- Technical Writer (m/w) — wunderloop Media Services GmbH – Hamburg
- Editor / Sub Editor / Feature Writer — Client of Boss & Peers Consultants – Bangalore, KA
- Copy Editor – Brickwork India – Bangalore, KA
Glossary of Writing Careers
March 4, 2005 by John Hewitt · 11 Comments
The list of jobs a writer can hold will never be complete. You’ll find writers who are programmers, stock traders and business executives. Below is a list of some of the most likely and probably most satisfying careers for people who love to write.
Acquisitions Editor
Most often associated with book publishers, an acquisitions editor supervises the process of finding potential writers to write for their publisher. They often are in charge of negotiations with the writer.
Advertising Writer
See copywriter.
Agent’s Assistant
An agent’s assistant does whatever tasks need to be done for a literary or talent agent. They often act as manuscript readers for an agent, who generally receives far more manuscripts than they have time to read.
Assistant Editor
An assistant editor serves under the managing editor or editor in chief. The generally take over some of their duties, such as managing writers or making story assignments. Often they are assigned a specific section within a publication or broadcast. If so, they may also be called a section editor.
Author
An author is what people classically think of when they think of writers. An author writes books. These books can be fiction or non-fiction.
Columnist
A columnist is the writer of on ongoing, regularly scheduled feature for a publication. They may also syndicate their articles to multiple publications.
Copy Clerk
See editorial assistant.
Copy Editor
A copy editor prepares text for publication. They proofread articles and often act as fact-checkers as well.
Copywriter
A copywriter writes advertising and product descriptions (know collectively as copy) for print and online catalogs, commercial scripts, brochures, direct mail and so forth.
Critic
See reviewer.
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-chief is in charge of the overall content and production of a publication. This is a managerial position more than an editing position.
Editorial Assistant
An editorial assistant provides administrative support for editors, associate editors and writing/editorial staff. They often perform scheduling, filing, note taking, and other administrative duties. They may or may not perform writing and editing tasks.
Editorial Secretary
See editorial assistant.
English as a Second Language (ESL) Instructor
ESL instructors teach the basic or advanced skills of speaking and writing in English to students who did not learn English originally. They often work in foreign countries.
English Teacher
And English teacher generally works with high school or junior high school classes to teach them English grammar and writing.
Fact Checker
See researcher.
Gag Writer
A gag writer writes for cartoonists, comedians or shows needing humor, generally in short form.
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is employed to write on behalf of another person and give the authorship credit to that other person.
Grant Writer
A grant writer researches and responds to grant opportunities for an organization, often a non-profit one. Grant proposals must often adhere to strict rules spelled out by the organization providing the grant.
Indexer
An indexer analyzes the text of a book or other published materials and creates an alphabetized or otherwise organized list of key terms and their locations.
Journalist
A journalist collects, writes, edits, and presents news or news articles for the Internet, magazines, radio, television and newspapers. A journalist may or may not be a permanent employee of a publication or media outlet.
Joke Writer
See gag writer.
Lecturer
See speaker.
Literary Agent
A literary agent represents an author in their dealings with publishers. It is their job to get a manuscript read and sought after by the right people.
Managing Editor
A managing editor administers and directs the editorial activities of a magazine, newspaper, book publisher or other media outlet.
Manuscript Evaluator
See manuscript reader.
Manuscript Reader
A manuscript reader reviews submissions from writers. Generally it is their job to weed out less suitable work and pass on the best of the submissions to an editor such as an acquisitions editor.
Monologist
Much like a storyteller, this person writes and then performs an anecdote or series of anecdotes. Monologist is considered a more prestigious title than storyteller. The term is usually applied to people who perform for an adult audience.
Press Agent
See Publicist.
Production Editor
Production editors often have duties similar to that of a copyeditor, but they are focused on putting the article into its printed form, often using page design packages such as FrameMaker, PageMaker, or Quark Express.
Public Relations Writer
A public relations (PR) writer creates materials that establish and promote a business or other entities’ image and relationship with the public.
Publicist
A publicist’s job is half public relations and half advertising. A publicist promotes an individual, business, or group. They arrange for and often write newspaper articles, and schedule interviews, lectures, or other public appearances. They may also arrange for paid advertising if the client desires it.
Publicity Writer
See Publicist.
Publisher
The publisher is in charge of a publication. Often, the publisher is an owner or has some financial stake in the publication. It is their job to oversee the preparation and distribution of printed material for public sale such as books, magazines, and newspapers. The also tend to set editorial policy, often with the aid of an editorial board.
Reading Tutor
A reading tutor teaches reading skills to young or underdeveloped readers.
Researcher
A researcher must provide or confirm information for published materials written by other people. They do not receive writing credits for their work.
Resume Writer
A resume writer works with job seekers to create resumes, cover letters and other materials that will help them find a job.
Reviewer
A reviewer evaluates the quality of things such as books, films, food, art or theater.
Scriptwriter (Business)
A business scriptwriter writes sales scripts and presentations.
Scriptwriter (TV, Film, Radio, Theater)
A scriptwriter writes copy to be used by an announcer, performer, or director in a film or broadcast.
Speaker
A speaker lectures on a topic or series of topic for an audience, often in an educational or motivational capacity.
Speechwriter
A speechwriter writes presentations, lectures, and speeches for other people.
Staff Writer
A writer employed by a business, publication, or broadcaster to write articles and rewrite press releases or other information.
Storyteller
A storyteller is a performer who generally writes and then performs aloud the telling of a story. This is often associated with children’s tales. When the performance is mainly for adults the performers are generally called monologists.
Technical Editor
A technical editor reviews the work of technical writers or technical professionals to make sure it is accurate from a technical legal, and editing standpoint.
Technical Writer
A technical writer analyzes and writes about specialized subjects such as computers, engineering, science, medicine and law.
Translator
A translator rewrites in one or more languages materials originally created in a different language.
Writing Consultant
A writing consultant is a sort of editor-for-hire that examines someone’s writing for ways that it can be improved upon.
Writing Instructor
A writing instructor generally works at the college level but without tenure. They are hired to teach one or more writing classes that are generally focused on composition or grammar.
Writing Professor
A writing professor is a tenured instructor who has generally been published many times. They are often required to teach only two or three classes a semester and spend the rest of their time writing new materials for publication and mentoring students.
Writing Tutor
A writing tutor works individually with another person to improve their writing. Unlike a writing consultant, the writing tutor focuses on a person’s general writing skill rather than a specific piece of writing.
Wake Up and Smell the Technology
March 4, 2005 by John Hewitt · 1 Comment
By Michael Bremer
I’d like all of you writers who consider yourselves too creative for technical writing to rethink your opinion. If you are creative, if you can entertain readers, if you like technology (even a little) and, above all, if you enjoy learning new things, then you’re the kind of writer that should be explaining our technical world to the people living in it.
How Technical Do You Have To Be To Be a Technical Writer?
The fact is, while there is a lot of technical writing that should be written by serious technologists, if not full engineers, that explain things to other technologists and engineers, the vast majority of writing about technology is written for and read by the nontechnical consumer audience.
How much of a technical background you need depends on what you write about. If you’re explaining APIs to programmers, then you need a programming background. If you’re explaining the theory of operation of a nuclear power plant to nuclear engineers, you need a physics background.
But if you’re explaining how to use a TV, VCR, home computer, or any of a million other hardware and software products created for the consumer market, you need a human background. And that’s what many writers who don’t normally consider writing about technology specialize in.
In fact, for many subjects and products, it’s an advantage for the writer to come to the project knowing very little. That way, the discovery process, complete with mistakes and false trails, is fresh in the mind, and you’ll know the pitfalls that your reader will face.
What Skills Do You Really Need?
To be a successful tech writer today, you do have to be able to:
- Learn: figure out what the darn thing is, what it does and how to use it.
- Explain: explain what you learned to people who don’t know it yet, who don’t figure things out as easily as you do or who don’t really enjoy learning new things.
- Write well: this is basic, and standard for all types of writing.
- Entertain: think back to your school days. Which teachers did you learn the most from? For me, it was the teachers that had a sense of humor and made learning fun and exciting.
And the hardest of all: - Finish: meet your deadlines with high quality work.
Technology Is Mass Market
As little as 15 years ago, technology was something that only engineers, scientists and propellerheads cared about. Sure, there were hi-fi enthusiasts, and there were those hobbyists who played with electronics and short-wave radios in the basement or garage, but these people, while tolerated, were a minority. They were generally considered strange, and were rarely invited to parties.
But today, everything is different. Technology is everywhere. Cell phones, VCRs, CDs, DVDs, computers and the Internet have invaded both home and workplace. Using technology is no longer a choice. It’s a fact of personal and professional life.
Technology Is Entertainment
People buy VCRs, camcorders, computers (at least partially) and software (at least partially) for entertainment. Learning how to use them should be entertaining as well. Why should they feel like they’re back in school with a boring, confusing, unclear teacher to learn how to have fun?
Learning is Necessary, But It Can Be Fun
Think back on your teachers who were boring and unclear. How much did you remember from their classes? Now think back on the few teachers who entertained and inspired you, who made you laugh now and then, whose classes were fun. As long as you have to learn, which teacher would you rather learn from? If you are teaching through your technical writing, which teacher would you rather be remembered as?
Rewards
Tech writing and technical communications in general is a growing field — growing in size and in prestige. With this growth comes more opportunities to be paid for writing, and pay rates are increasing, especially for those with a proven track record.
Today, the growth of the Internet and the software industry (business, entertainment, multimedia, etc.), and the ever-increasing need for more text and graphics, has created a need for writers and artists “well-paid writers and artists” like never before in the history of civilization. Today is your best opportunity to make a living as an artist, whether you work with words or images.
Beyond the financial aspects, there are other, less-tangible rewards from tech writing. Knowing that your work (your writing) helps other people to understand new things is rewarding in itself. And knowing that you make some people’s lives a little easier, even a little better, is something to be proud of.
With the right attitude and understanding, tech writing can give you the same personal and spiritual rewards as teaching (but with flexible hours and higher pay).
Summary
No matter what you have heard, what you have read, what you have believed, tech writing is not just for geeks any more. More and more (but far from all) companies are realizing the importance of documentation, and are changing their attitudes about creativity and humor.
So, try some tech writing. Learn something new and explain it to someone who needs help. Write so your reader will enjoy reading it. And above all, write things you enjoy writing.
Copyright 2000, Michael Bremer
About the author: Michael Bremer is the author of two books for writers: UnTechnical Writing: How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So Anyone Can Understand, and The User Manual Manual: How to Research, Write, Test, Edit and Produce a Software Manual. He is also the managing editor of a new series of books for computer beginners: Advice From the Neighborhood Nerd. You’re not a dummy. You’re not an idiot. All you need is a little advice from the Neighborhood Nerd. For more information, see www.untechnicalpress.com.
A Technical Writer Assignment Using FrameMaker and FrameScript
December 28, 2004 by John Hewitt · Leave a Comment
Same Technical Writer, Same Company, New Boss
As expected, I wrapped up the PDF and Acrobat branding updates well ahead of schedule. While it is good for your reputation to finish early, it is not necessarily good for your bank account. The two people who hired me did not have another assignment for me. Luckily, I had made friends with a technical writer whose team badly needed another person. Because of this, I managed to stay in the same company, but I switched bosses.
The manager of the new department works in another city. I have only spoken to the man once. For all my daily activities, the writer I made friends with is my supervisor. In fact, due to company rules, he had to take a class in how to manage a contractor. This company has many rules about what contractors can and cannot do, and he is responsible for making sure I do not cross any lines.
Switching bosses within the same company is not an entirely smooth process. On the day of the crossover, I showed up to work and discovered my badge and my email deactivated. It took most of the day to get security to reactivate my accounts.
FrameMaker and FrameScript
My first project under the new supervisor was similar to my last project, but with an increased level of complexity. Once again, a set of established documentation was going through a branding update. This time, however, the changes were more far-reaching. Because of the branding update, dozens of product names were changing. In addition, the documents I would work on were all written with FrameMaker, and many of the changes were contained in variables rather than regular text.
My supervisor decided that he needed to take advantage of this change and implement a standard set of variables across the platform. This meant that I did not just need to look for incorrect brand identifications; I also needed to change many variables that contained the right information, but an outdated variable name.
FrameMaker and FrameScript
One tool that made this project easier was a third-party scripting program for FrameMaker. This program, aptly named FrameScript, allowed us to automate many of the variable changes. Still, most of the work required me to search for the outdated variables and replace them within the documents. I also needed to search for any outdated text or graphic references.
Technical Writing Procedure
One of the nice things about this project was that my supervisor had started it, and he had taken the time to write a procedure for doing the work. This gave me a leg up on the process, even though I eventually started making minor modifications to the procedure as I began to find easier ways to handle the job. One of the advantages of working with technical writers is that they will often write down what they are doing for future reference.
Updating Technical Documents
Updating documents provides a major portion of the work available to technical writers. While it is more fun (and more challenging) to write a set of documents from scratch, the truth is that there are not very many new products coming out, especially in the computer industry. Far more often, a product is an update of something that has already been developed.
Additional Resources
- FrameMaker Scripting Automation and Customization
- FrameScript: A crash course
- Tech Writing Careers — The Raw, Unvarnished Truth
First Day of a Technical Writing Contract
December 18, 2004 by John Hewitt · Leave a Comment
Technical Writing Contract
Rule number one for a contractor is to never panic about what happens your first day. First days are naturally chaotic, and often companies are not fully prepared for you. Because contractors are usually brought in to solve a particular problem, the people are anxious to get you started, but companies, especially large ones, are not geared for quick action.
My first day starts at 5:45 in the morning. This is when I arrive to begin NCO (New Contractor Orientation). Most companies I’ve worked for don’t have anything like this, but this company is obsessed with safety. Every contractor who starts with the company must sit through at least the first part of the safety lectures and videos. Because I am working in an office and I do not work with hazardous chemicals (Except white-out and toner) I only have to attend until 10:00. Factory workers and clean room workers attend afternoon sessions as well.
The instructor for these safety lessons is a former naval officer who taught helicopter pilots how to survive a dunking, which is when a helicopter flips over upside-down into the ocean or other deep water. He speaks in the loud, staccato bursts you would associate with a drill sergeant, but is a nice guy who keeps the class moving. Because the company I’m working for does use many dangerous chemicals in its manufacturing process, there are many things even an office worker should know. Also, there is a lecture about harassment, sexual and otherwise. Over the course of the orientation, they process my paperwork and by the time I leave there I have a shiny new badge that will give me all the building access I need to do my job.
Technical Writing Orientation
After orientation I drive to the corporation’s other campus, where my daily job will be. It’s a huge campus with about ten big buildings. The building I work in has its own convenience store and cafeteria. One of the people I interviewed with comes down to meet me and gives me a short tour before heading to my cubicle. We go by the supply room and I pick up a notepad and a couple pens. After that, I write down the name and job function of everyone I meet. I have never been good with remembering names off the top of my head, and this gives me a reference that I can look back on later.
The first problem to emerge is the most typical. My computer is not ready yet and neither is my cubicle. They set me up at a temporary computer, but it doesn’t have the required software and nobody seems to have administration rights to the computer so we can’t install any new software either. There are about four key pieces of software I need to do my job, and the computer only has one of them. The problem is compounded because one of my bosses will be out of town all next week, and the other will only be in town on Monday and Friday.
While they scramble to solve the computer problem, I spend several hours looking over printouts of what I should be accessing online. I also read the company technical authoring guide; it goes over document formats, common product technical terms and includes a brief style guide. Many companies/departments don’t have one of these, so I consider is a good sign that this one does.
As the day progresses, I get moved to a small computer lab, where I can at least access the documents I need to read. My bosses also manage to procure for me the glossy marketing guides that have been produced for the products. One of the bosses immediately finds a technical flaw in their documents and brings it back to them.
Technical Writing Glitches
As the day winds down, my bosses figure out a basic solution to my computer problems that will, they hope, be put into place on Monday. Towards the end of the day I have one of my bosses sign my time sheet (Even though it was my first day, it was still a Friday) and I faxed it in to my contracting agency. Ten hours after I walked into the safety meeting I got to go home.
Overall it was a pretty typical first day. There will always be initial confusion, both for you and the company, and it is a good idea to take everything in stride. Just make sure you know four things by the end of the day: who your boss is, how to get in and out of the building, where the bathrooms are, and what the dress code is. If another week passes before they can get most of your problems fixed, then you can start to panic.
