Why a Technical Writer?
Becoming a technical writer was not my first career choice. For years I wavered between journalism and politics. I had entertained dreams of becoming a novelist. I had even thought about becoming a database programmer. At the tender age of 25 though, I found myself out of work and stuck with a credit card bill that was entering five figures as I tried to keep afloat. At some point I had picked up Bob Bly’s Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $85,000 a Year or More (The new title has upgraded that figure to $100,000). He was mainly discussing copywriting, but one of the other options he listed in the book was technical writing. He said a good technical writer could make $50,000 a year or more. It wasn’t the big figure that Bly quoted for copywriting, but it seemed like plenty of money to me. I couldn’t picture myself as a big time advertising writer, but technical writer was something that I figured I could do. I had plenty of computer experience. Half of my personal debt was rel
