(Written for my Cultures of Professional Writing class in response to "Tell me a little about yourself as a writer")

Until six months ago, had I been asked to write about myself as a writer, I would have said that all of my writing outside of the classroom is technical or scientific in nature. After four years as a creative writing major, I discovered to my horror that I’m really not very good at it. I dove into technical writing with a sense of urgency, and have over the last five years learned skills that have kept me fresh in the field. I will almost certainly remain a technical writer for years to come. My attitude toward other aspects of professional writing changed, however, thanks to English 611 and my group in that class. Crystal and Jeannette dragged me kicking and screaming into the world of the first-person narrator, and by the end of the class, I was convinced not only that I could write magazine articles, but that I could explore other aspects of professional writing as well.

As a writer, I have almost always been known as an extremely picky grammar inspector. I have become more relaxed in the last few years, especially in non-technical documentation, but I still tend to get frustrated when reading a poorly edited book. To be honest, I tend to get frustrated explaining that and which, ensure and insure, and other such confusions. I have loud opinions about the state of high school education, especially since my grammar knowledge stems from having an extremely educated mother, not from having any lessons in grammar prior to graduate school.

Actually, I have loud opinions about many aspects of the technical writing field, specifically about the role that writers are supposed to play. When I started doing technical writing, I was under the impression that I was expected to have technical knowledge and the ability to impart that knowledge to others. I was surprised to find out that I was expected in most places to be a copy editor with good knowledge of Microsoft products. Further, I’ve learned that many software developers are surprised when they discover that I do have technical knowledge, and feel insulted when I point out, for instance, that they have claimed to me that the software provides a certain function when that claim is not supported in the code.

On a more general note, I simply enjoy both writing and document design. I have searched for five years for a job where I am truly allowed to write, and I have finally found one. At ITC, I write end-user documentation by learning the system and actually documenting it; I am allowed to create documents according to designs that I feel are appropriate, and I design Web pages and corporate literature for the company.

I consider document design to be an integral part of writing. I don’t just want to write; I want my writing to be presented in a way that is easy to use and pleasing to the eye. (I have recently taken on the attitude of anything but Times when it comes to fonts, simply to get other writers in my company to think about what else is out there. It’s not that Times is specifically an ugly font, but thanks to Microsoft, every document now defaults to Times, and very few people take the time to change it.)

On reading what I have just written, I realize that I’ve written more about my opinions on writing than about myself as a writer. In reality, I have confidence problems with both writing and speaking, and, even though I have become more confident over the last year, I still hesitate when it comes to non-technical writing. I agonize over phrasing. I fear sounding stilted. Because I want all of my writing to be perfect, I tend to forget to try new things. I think that this goes back to my lack of success as a fiction writer. That is, I know that I’m good at technical writing, so I try not to rock the boat. My academic writing confuses me. I recently reread a paper that I wrote for a literature class, and I can hardly believe that I wrote it. I know that when I write for an academic setting, I tend to use language that is not in my active vocabulary, and this is probably why it sounds so strange to me.

Finally, I have noticed that my writing in general has improved recently, and this is probably thanks to being back in school. I take notice when there is something wrong with a sentence or phrase, and I have been finding that my own writing needs less editing now than it did just a year ago. I will never be a good speller, but if it weren’t for technology, I wouldn’t have a job, so I bow to technology and use a spell checker. Then I double-check with a dictionary if I still think it looks wrong.