Writer Life Series

I teach an online English class where the first few weeks introduce students to the options that are available to English Majors. I decided that I wanted to start posting on my blog what my life is like as a writer to let my students, and anyone interested in being a writer / English Major, know what it means to be a writer.

I know that there are plenty of other blogs out there where you can find out what other writers are doing. One thing unique about me is that I'll catalogue my experience in the field of technical/professional writing and my experiences as a creative writing.

Both types of writing have taken me on a journey of discovery. My technical/professional writing path has landed me in a place that I didn't know existed when I started. My first job as a technical writer was writing software documentation for an analysis software. I started my academic journey as a CS major, soI'd spent some time programming in the past.

I spent the next several years working on software documentation , creating help systems, and other similar project. Eventually I was able to work on project where I created training materials and conducted usability tests, but most projects were still documentation based.

I stayed in the technical writing field for quite a while until I landed my first job as a traveling software trainer. I still worked on documenting software, but I was also teaching people how to use the software in a classroom setting. It was a great experience that allowed me to go to many places. I was traveling almost 70% of the time, so this made it challenging with a young family.

I'd always wanted to be a teacher, so I took a job as a fifth grade teacher. I would have loved to be an English teacher, but the opportunity wasn't there. I had never been in a school classroom before. I had no idea what I was getting into. I really thought that Mr. Keating from Dead Poets Society had taught me everything I needed to know. That is the kind of teacher I wanted to be. You can imagine how that worked in a fifth grade classroom where the teacher has never been a substitute teacher, or had any formal teacher training.

Eventually, things started getting better, but I discovered that I wasn't in the right place. I did learn that I loved helping the teachers. This thought lead me to leave and get a job as an instructional designer for a company that created computer based training materials for companies. This was a new and exciting field. It opened the door for me to go on and get my Masters degree in Educational technology.

Now I work as on online course designer for BYU-Idaho. All of the writing jobs I have had, and all of my training as an English major, have prepared me for this type of job. I am alway writing content, editing writing from other people, conducting user tests, and training people on software tools and process.

When I was going to schools as an undergraduate, I could not have imagined doing what I am doing now. I did get the chance to take a technolgy course where we were designing digital courses. I loved it, but I never imagined that I would ever to that. I was focused on technical writing. That course and multimedia minor course work were a good clue to what I really loved, I just didn't realize it then. It laid a hidden foundation that I would discover later.

Remember that you are on an ever changing and evolving journey. There is alway more to learn and new opportunities ahead that didn't exist when you started. Keep going.

Best of Luck

Ted