I did a co-op term as a technical writer at a high tech company here in Waterloo.
The job of a technical writer varies from company to company, but essentially it involves writing text that allows customers to understand how to use technology. In my case I was documenting software changes, and the process went something like this:
Long, long ago when I was young and dependent, my parents would nag about the state of my bedroom: it rarely met their standards of tidy. I would challenge their unrealistic ideals by questioning them. When this failed to help my cause I would shove everything under the bed.
Why do my clothes need to be put away? I’m going to wear them eventually; why must the bed be made? I’ll be sleeping in it again, tonight; who am I hurting? Why does this “who” care?
(Unless it's our Instagram you're looking at!)
When you look at someone else’s Instagram account you see the great vacation, the beautiful hair, the new girlfriend, and the winning game. You don’t see the peeling sunburn, all the days she hid under a hat, the heartbreak it took him eight months to get over, or the years and years of practice that led to a single successful game.
Salut!
This one gives me mad Super Saiyan vibes but it's actually my attempt at drawing flames. You might say that this doodle is fire. #WritingUnleashed
During my undergraduate years at the University of Toronto, I took a class on a Roman poet named Catullus. For a long semester I laboured over his poetry, trying to wrestle his sophisticated Latin phrases into easy English. From all the hundreds of lines of his poetry that I worked on, one word stands out in my memory: palmulas.
When American TV show ratings start to plummet, characters with British accents get added; when websites need more views, one solution is the use of clickbait.
Hey Warriors!
Unleash your superpower! #WritingUnleashed
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I was standing next to someone at the crosswalk out in front of South Campus Hall and I noticed the word “Forward” tattooed across her ankle. Single words inked on skin are a huge trend right now, and a quick search shows that the words people choose represent a summary of life goals, belief systems, or ideals.
I ate too much turkey and fell asleep this weekend instead of coming up with a blog post, so here is a drawing of me at 3 years old. And maybe again at 20.
Unleash your superpower, Warriors! #WritingUnleashed
One of the things we do at the Writing Centre is show you the tools available online that can help you develop your writing skills. Here are ten of my favourites.