Working for a Living
Writing for Life

Each day, I trudge off to work, determined to make each document that passes through my electronic mail box a small piece of art, ready to ensure that every requirement is captured and each process is duly diagrammed and explained. I write and edit and copy and paste, I fiddle with diagrams and graphs, I consider each word carefully. Yes, it's true: I'm an English major who found a niche in technology.

I've been writing in the technical world for quite some time now--over 18 years. I formally added analysis to my tools of the trade in 2007, when I became a Business Analyst. As a BA or a Technical Communicator, each job is different yet remains true to a central theme: find meaning in chaos and help others to do the same. I've worked for big and small companies, with vastly different technologies, and the true focus of my job is always to make things clear. I've documented requirements for ecommerce platforms, processes for a pharmaceutical's IT department and use cases for a multitude of software applications. I've written user manuals for employees running cash registers, troubleshooting guides for a telecommunications firm, a series of help systems for a satellite software company, and resumes for an HR metrics firm. My practical experience runs the gamut, and my knowledge of various applications and tools is pretty darn impressive too. And none of it makes a bit of difference: my job is to make things clear. Isn't that amazing? All of that other stuff is just fluff when compared to my mission in life. Clarity. Wow. I'll just leave it at that, then.