The Art of Professional and Technical Writing

Professional writers are vital contributors to the communication process within an organization. We are liaisons between ideas and people, and are responsible for informing, entertaining, or persuading target audiences to make decisions or take action through the art of rhetoric. Our most important task is to successfully transmit usable data in efforts by means of multiple facets to plan and present information deliberately. We must strive to rationalize our purpose for writing, gain public confidence, and maintain ethical and legal accountability, with each element coexisting to deliver rhetoric effectively. Methods for overcoming obstacles we as professional communicators face have always been of interest to me.

From my introduction to Big Chief tablet paper and over-sized pencils as a young scholar, I became fascinated with the power of text and the impact words have on readers. While most children dreamt of securing a position in the medical or legal profession, among other lucrative career choice, I fantasized having a writing career. It was not atypical to find me positioned in a pecan tree with book, tablet, and pencil in hand composing the next best seller. And as technologies evolved to typewriters and then computers, I remained loyal to the compilation of words. I previously and continue to be memorized of how texts captivates and affect readers’ lives. We share a sense of ownership – one of encoder/decoder of messages.

I felt it essential to impart upon others expertise I had acquired through vast study of literature, academic, and professional writing and became an English/language arts teacher. Middle and high school students needed to only know basics, such as syntax, but I challenge them to explore creative, proposal, and other writing styles. Yet, I maintained faithful to my writing career through contract employment during extended academic breaks until I utilized my talents in full-time positions within disparate industries. I have writing and edited educational test competitions and SAT prep training material, agriculture instructional manuals to submit for EPA approval, documents for asbestos court proceeding, marketing and promotional materials for corporate clients, and so much more. Thus, I have demonstrated high comprehension level of governing standards and regulatory guidelines pertaining to confidentiality, copyright laws, and internal organizational policies.

Understanding various style guides, including The Associated Press, The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, and The Chicago Manual of Style, has been instrumental to my writing and editing accomplishments. In addition, I own an array of resources – from Words into Type to The Copyeditor’s Handbook – and a wealth of materials in support of online writing. Formerly considered a tool, social practice within print and electronic arenas initiated a transformation in writing comparable with circumstances that arise due to informational availability and usage. I understand that there are significant differences in both writing mediums, and I take great measures to remain abreast of innovative practices through professional development or subscriptions to various industry-related publications. In the past, I have relied on my knowledge of technologies consisting of Microsoft Office, familiarity of HTML and visual software, Final Cut Pro, and other applications most of which I learned via on-the-job experience, exhibiting the desire to advance my skill set.

However, awareness of the conventions of writing and technologies does not make an effective professional writer. Productive writers must identify with and create social space with readers. Writers participate in research and risk assessment to situate readers in efforts to determine social and visual aspects of texts. Investigating cultural constraints that alter readers’ reactions permits information to become more usable. I am a researcher of not only information to initiate the communication process, but also of my target audience to engage reader interaction permitting texts to be well-received. Writing comprises perceptions and relationships built from idea conception to document development and beyond. It is necessary to view readers as participants in the writing process, and my foremost consideration is to develop user-centered documents while simultaneously adhering to organizational agenda to influence readers’ decisions and actions.

Writing is not merely an art form or a career choice. Writing is a lifestyle – a proficiency that continuously evolves. I intend to perpetually hone my talents for the betterment of my readership and organization encompassing skill, accountability, willingness to produce social space to enhance information exchange. In the near future, I anticipate securing a role as Senior Writer/Editor within an ever-changing, innovative company producing highly effective documents that greatly impact the everyday lives of audiences.