This week, as I was riding my bike to work and listening to Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World (a classic fantasy/adventure book), one of the characters — was it Bayle Domon, the pirate? for the life of me, I can’t remember, nor can I find it, but he says something like this to Rand, one of the protagonists: Sometimes … more »

The following is a guest post by Lopa Mishra, a technical writer in Mumbai, India. At a college reunion party recently, someone asked me what job I’m pursuing. On replying that I’m a writer, a friend jumped in to clarify that I’m a “technical” writer. My friend considers that technical writing has nothing to do with creativity, contrary to “plain” writing which is a highly … more »

This past week I traveled to Florida to help clear out my dad’s house. He recently fell and hit his head, and now he’s in a rehabilitation center while his memory recovers. It may take him months to return to his normal self. When he does, we want him to live closer to my sister in Tampa. I spent an entire day clearing out his … more »

About a month ago, one of my colleagues approached me and asked if I would be interested in having an informal creative writing workshop every now and then. Huh, I thought, maybe. I floated the idea by the other four writers in our technical writing group, and it turns out everyone was interested in participating in this, except one, who was already busy with another … more »

I’ve been somewhat bothered by the fact that I don’t read much fiction. For someone who has a degree in creative writing, this is a bit troubling. My degree is in nonfiction creative writing, but still, you would think that I read a novel a week or more. Not really. Not too long after my MFA, I went through a burnout phase. During my 3 … more »

Recently I listened to Moira Gunn interview Steve Rosenbaum about content curation in her podcast, Tech Nation. I heard Steve present on a similar topic at Confab. Interestingly, I found the podcast, which was a conversation between Moira and Steve, more interesting, fluid, and natural than Steve’s Confab presentation. Steve’s presentation at Confab was great. But all presentations, by nature, have a different rhythm and … more »

Last week while attending the STC Summit, I learned that MindTouch named my blog, I’d Rather Be Writing, the most innovative blog in technical communication. In their post, 2011 Technical Communication Innovation Award Winners, they write, This honor is bestowed upon long-time technical documentation professional Tom Johnson for creating some of the best — and most innovative — original content about the field of technical … more »

My wife wants to finish our basement so badly that she registered for a local eight-week course on how to finish your basement. As the first class approached, she realized how difficult it would be for me to nurse the baby while she learned about framing, plumbing, electricity, and so forth. So I agreed to go instead. I had been putting off finishing my basement … more »

In my post on technical writing resolutions, Marcia Johnston commented, “Inspiring. Bravo, Tom, and good luck. Don’t know how you do it all.” I get that last remark a lot, actually. I don’t feel it’s deserved. I don’t do it all … not at all. I let so many important activities slip through the cracks. But let me indulge in a fantasy where that remark … more »

The Old Testament is not something one typically reviews in a blog post, but I’ve been reading it for the past year, and I want to write down some of my thoughts about the text. This is, after all, a blog about writing. Where does one even begin? Let’s start with purposes, in other words, why I was even reading the Old Testament. In our house … more »

Scott Abel has a good post on content curation strategies. He writes, In order to develop an active and engaged audience, you have to publish as much interesting and informative content as possible — as often as possible! He notes how tweets and blog posts are short-lived, so you have to keep publishing all the time: … Add to the mix the sheer volume of … more »

Last week one of my followers tweeted, “Again, I find myself disagreeing, to a degree, with @tomjohnson.” It was actually a retweet, so someone else was agreeing that they also disagreed with me. I know my posts on content strategy had a lot of people disagreeing. First I said content strategy should focus on why help fails. Then I followed that up to say much … more »

Shannon had baby Molly on September 1, just a couple of hours before midnight. Molly is 8 lbs 15 oz and about 20 inches tall. She is healthy and has brownish hair. Before we went to the hospital, Shannon was about a week and a half overdue. Every extra day seemed like an eternity and we were glum with anticipation waiting for the contractions to … more »

A career in technical writing is a sedentary, almost motionless desk job. The greater endurance you have to sit still and keep your hands on the keyboard or mouse pad, the more productive you’ll be. I am starting to miss working with my hands, and walking around. During the past few weeks, the “Mr-Fix-It” section in my brain kicked in. A while ago, I had … more »

About a month ago, I was talking with some of my friends at church when my wife Jane came into the room crying and asking where Kevin was. I wasn’t sure what happened, but I soon found out. Jane had been substituting in Primary, a class for children. During a game where everyone gets to ask a question, she asked if anyone had seen our … more »