Season of Docs -- opportunities for both tech writers and open-source organizations to benefit from each other
You can read more about the program at Season of Docs.
I had heard of Season of the Docs before the Summit, but I didn’t realize that Sarah Maddox was the one who organized the whole program. Given the size and scope of this program, it’s a really impressive effort — Sara believes 100% in open-source, and it shows. You can read more about Season of Docs on her blog here: Season of Docs is now ready for tech writer exploration.
Getting experience as a new tech writer can be difficult, and despite the many projects on GitHub, finding a good documentation project can be difficult (not to mention the challenge of integrating into the team). Season of the Docs looks like a first-of-its-kind program to bring volunteer tech writers and organizations together. The program even provides a small stipend to each group.
Here’s a brief excerpt from the Season of Docs homepage:
Technical writers
Spend three months working closely with an open source community. Bring your technical writing expertise to the project's documentation. Learn about open source and new technologies. Add more skills to your resume. Learn more »
Open source organizations
Invite an experienced technical writer to work on your documentation for three months. Provide some project ideas based on your documentation needs, then work with a technical writer to build your doc set, improve your information architecture, or develop a much-needed tutorial. Learn more »
Mentors
Introduce a technical writer to your open source project and community. Help the technical writer use the project's tools and understand the product. Contribute together to some shiny new docs that enhance your community and your code. Learn more »
Learn more at Season of Docs.
About Tom Johnson
I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.
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