Guest Posts

Every so often, we publish guest posts from technical writers we know or whose blogs we enjoy. If you’re a technical communicator who’s interested in writing a guest post for this space, contact us.

Why FAQs are a tech writer’s secret weapon: Most questions have been asked before. Chances are the majority of calls they receive are fielded with canned answers. In this post, Craig Haiss discusses the power and flexibility of FAQs.

What makes a technical writer tick? Technical writers are pretty weird individuals. And proud of it. Sarah Maddox takes a fascinating and humorous look at what makes a good technical writer.

Pick a card: Single sourcing, content reuse, and the like can help solve all manner of problems, and make the life of the technical communicator infinitely easier and more productive. This is true if you are willing to put in hours of planning and preparation. In this post, Gordon McLean looks at content reuse from a slightly different angle.

Unstoppability: Are you unstoppable? Tom Johnson is (though he’ll deny it!). In this post, Tom discusses the good and the bad of unstoppability, and how the concept relates to tech comm.

Now you can take that blog vacation you’ve been planning: What do you do when you’re an active blogger but want to go on vacation? Anne Gentle shares some strategies for blogging even when you’re not there to do it.

The Creative Passion: Technical writing and creativity. Those words don’t seem to go together. But Kai Weber argues that technical writing can be a creative endeavour.

Contributing to wikis: a useful activity for novice tech writers? Using wikis for documentation isn’t anything new. But not every technical writer, especially novices, are familiar or comfortable with using wikis for their work. Milan Davidovic looks at whether or not contributing to wikis could help novice tech writers get their first gig.

What to know when switching from RoboHelp to Flare: Sometimes, technical writers switch tools. More than a few are making the jump from RoboHelp to Madcap Flare. In this post, Ben Minson looks at how to make that transition a little smoother.

The joys and pains of working remotely: Being able to work from home seems like the ultimate working arrangement. It can be, but it also has its perils and pitfalls. In this post, Ivan Walsh looks at both.

Tablet computers: they’re pricey, but nice. And useful: With the popularity of the iPad, tablet computers have entered the consciousness of both consumers and professionals. Sue Varty looks at how some professionals use tablet computers in their daily work, and what tablets can do for you.

Tips for efficiently editing in Word: There’s a lot more to editing in Microsoft Word than just changing a word here and there. Rhonda Bracey offers a number of great tips for effciently and effectively editing documents in Word.

Why you’re awesome: daily affirmations for techcomm: You’re awesome. Yes. You. The technical communicator over there. Tristan Bishop explains why.

How a mouth-watering user guide got me to rethink technical communication: Cookbooks and manuals. Is there a difference? Bill Kerschbaum looks at how cookbooks and technical documentation are very much the same.

How to use curation analytics to improve your documentation: Thinking about using analytics to find out whether or not your documentation is meeting the needs of your users? Don’t turn to Google Analytics. Think about curation analytics instead. What are curation analytics? Mark Fidelman of MindTouch explains in this post.

Is indexing dead? That’s the question Julio Vazquez is asking.  And his answer just might surprise you.

I’m a Content Strategist. Or am I? What’s the difference between a technical writer and a content strategist? Read this post by Colum McAndrew to learn one veteran writer’s opinion.

Content strategy for technical communicators: what happens to my doc plan? The buzz about content strategy has never been louder. But the role needs to have boundaries lest the job become so all-encompassing that no one can do it. Read Larry Kunz’s thoughts about this.

The everyday tactics of content: Bill Albing takes a view from the trenches at the job of the technical communicator, and teaches us something that we might not have realized — about our jobs and ourselves.