Writing
Posts in my writing category focus in some way on the practice of writing. This could involve techniques for organizing content, coming up with ideas, how to get into states of flow, or other topics related to writing. The writing category is broader than simply technical writing, which is the more specific focus of this blog.
The following content is in the writing category:
Blogging as personal training? | Jul 26, 2024
Seeing invisible details and avoiding predictable, conditioned thought (ZAMM series) | Jun 26, 2024
[Podcast] Uncovering and communicating the value of your tech comm teams' work, with Keren Brown | May 30, 2024
Updates two years later on my smartphone experiment | May 21, 2024
AI is accelerating my technical writing output, and other observations | Apr 14, 2024
My 2024 technical writing trends and predictions | Jan 1, 2024
Podcast: Notes and themes from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig | Dec 15, 2023
30+ ways I’m using AI in everyday writing life as a technical writer, blogger, and curious human | Dec 4, 2023
Podcast: Tech writing and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, with Dan Grabski | Nov 18, 2023
Doing research with AI tools -- avoiding the trap of fabricated URLs | Nov 9, 2023
My experience trying to write original, full-length human-sounding articles using Claude AI | Oct 25, 2023
Chatting about AI trends and tech comm with Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti | Oct 20, 2023
What is Diátaxis and should you be using it with your documentation? | Oct 18, 2023
[Podcast] AI and APIs: What works, what doesn't | Oct 14, 2023
Forrester Report, Coding jobs, Hyper-personalization, RFPs, Call center replacement (Oct 9, 2023) | Oct 9, 2023
What I learned in using AI for planning and prioritization: Content strategy might be safe from automation | Oct 6, 2023
Open-source contribution myths, Hiring poets to train LLMs, Problems with 'content', AI agents (Oct 6, 2023) | Oct 5, 2023
Embracing professional redefinition | Oct 3, 2023
New API course topic: Using AI for summaries | Sep 7, 2023
New API doc course topic: Using AI for glossary definitions | Sep 4, 2023
New API doc course topic: Using AI for language advice | Aug 9, 2023
First Look at Oxygen XML's Positron AI Assistant [API doc course] | Jul 4, 2023
How the blog-to-book experiment is going: challenges and thoughts | Jun 15, 2023
One year later after moving to Seattle | Dec 22, 2021
Broadcasting your meeting notes (API documentation topic) | Dec 11, 2021
Five basketball strategies and how they might apply to tech comm | Jul 7, 2021
Balancing product overviews with getting started tutorials | Jul 6, 2021
Videocast: Micro content and Flare -- Conversation with Kate Schneider | Mar 21, 2021
Write the Docs Podcast episode 33: Simplified user interfaces, with Anton Bollen | Jan 19, 2021
Site analytics for 2020 -- trends, reflections, and thoughts | Jan 18, 2021
Measuring documentation quality -- a rubric for developer docs | Jan 12, 2021
Documentation templates and The Good Docs Project -- guest post by Ankita Tripathi | Nov 17, 2020
The story behind Document360 -- podcast with founder Saravana Kumar | Nov 17, 2020
Process for collecting feedback post-release (new article in API doc course) | Nov 16, 2020
Write the Docs Podcast episode 32: Self-publishing and AsciiDoc, with Mehmed Pasic | Nov 2, 2020
Processes for maintaining existing documentation (new article in API doc course) | Oct 30, 2020
Developer experience (DevX) usability (new article in API doc course) | Oct 12, 2020
Does working outside with the world as your office actually work? | Oct 8, 2020
New article in API course: Processes for reviewing documentation | Sep 23, 2020
On cultivating a garden while the world is crumbling around you | Sep 18, 2020
Inexpensive media hosting and CLI uploading with Wasabi? | Sep 1, 2020
Playing a product design role as a content designer -- podcast with Jonathon Colman | Aug 24, 2020
When 10X translates into -10X: debunking the myth of the 10X technical coder/writer | Aug 20, 2020
SDK release process article added to API doc course | Aug 19, 2020
DX content strategy article added to API doc course | Aug 19, 2020
Processes for managing large documentation projects and small documentation requests | Aug 13, 2020
A tip for doc reviews -- bring a list of questions | Jul 24, 2020
Write the Docs Podcast episode 30: Documentation templates, with Juan Lara | Jul 20, 2020
Writing productivity tip: Focus sessions | Jul 12, 2020
Treat code like code and prose like prose | Jun 16, 2020
Write the Docs Podcast episode 28: UX writing processes and considerations | Mar 24, 2020
Life on reset -- new dynamics emerging | Mar 23, 2020
Working from home — things I've bought | Mar 22, 2020
How life has changed with the pandemic | Mar 16, 2020
Is there a place for exploratory writing in the workplace? | Mar 10, 2020
*How* you write influences *what* you write — interpreting trends through movements from PDF to web, DITA, wikis, CCMSs, and docs-as-code | Feb 20, 2020
Reflections on my 2019 site analytics | Jan 8, 2020
Long-term strategies for project productivity | Oct 22, 2019
How to avoid inefficiencies even with context switching | Jun 6, 2019
My slide links and presentation descriptions at the 2019 STC Summit | May 4, 2019
First look at Document360 -- an authoring/publishing tool that satisfies both KB and tech pubs needs | Apr 22, 2019
When you're in the business of complexification | Apr 11, 2019
Why I decided not to become a grasshopper expert, or, Not deciding your focus based on where readers are clicking | Apr 9, 2019
A hypothesis on how to exert more influence and visibility inside the corporation | Apr 8, 2019
Master's in technical writing at Mercer — FAQ | Mar 26, 2019
Results from survey about engineers who write documentation | Mar 21, 2019
My documentation takeaways from the Boeing disaster -- two essential doc questions to ask for any project | Mar 20, 2019
Should you get a degree in a tech comm program? Two considerations to keep in mind | Mar 13, 2019
Write the Docs podcast episode 20: Minimum requirements for good tech docs, with Matt Reiner | Mar 3, 2019
Recording and slides for my trends presentation at the Symposium for Communicating Complex Information (SCCI) | Feb 24, 2019
How to become a 10X technical writer in the workplace | Feb 7, 2019
Is Premium Grammarly worth it for identifying style and grammar issues in tech docs? | Dec 28, 2018
Top 10 holiday gifts for technical writers | Dec 18, 2018
How to avoid being a secretary for engineers | Nov 19, 2018
I'd Rather Be Writing is now an Alexa Flash Briefing skill | Nov 5, 2018
Write the Docs Podcast Episode 17: Structured Writing -- reasons and approaches, with Mark Baker | Oct 23, 2018
Brainstorming by transposing patterns from one category to another | Oct 19, 2018
Tech comm trends -- why tech writers will be collaborating more with engineers | Oct 9, 2018
Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part I) | Oct 2, 2018
Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part II) | Oct 2, 2018
Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part III) | Oct 2, 2018
Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part IV) | Oct 2, 2018
Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part V) | Oct 2, 2018
Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part VI) | Oct 2, 2018
Tech comm trends: Providing value as a generalist in a sea of specialists (Part VII) | Oct 2, 2018
Write the Docs Podcast episode 16: An open-source Grammarly for tech docs? | Sep 6, 2018
How I handled data for about 10 device specifications on the same page -- the advantages of a flexible, customizable web-based framework like Jekyll | Aug 31, 2018
If writing is no longer a marketable skill, what is? | Aug 9, 2018
The right story for tech writers to tell in a corporate blog post | Aug 2, 2018
Random reflections on the throwaway mentality in our culture | Jul 3, 2018
The reason I always find time to write on this blog | May 18, 2018
Write the Docs Podcast episode 14: Humanizing your documentation | Mar 23, 2018
How to become a voracious reader | Dec 1, 2017
How do you communicate user progress in a course without a Learning Management System (LMS)? | Nov 28, 2017
Intro to API Documentation -- recording of presentation to STC Silicon Valley chapter on 11/20/2017 | Nov 19, 2017
Balancing writing, editing, and learning in equal measures | Nov 18, 2017
SwaggerHub: A collaborative platform for working on OpenAPI/Swagger specification files, and more | Oct 5, 2017
Has plain language deepened or ruined our delight in language? | Sep 20, 2017
Write the Docs Podcast episode 9: Chatbots in Documentation | Sep 19, 2017
Why Stack Overflow's Documentation effort failed -- a few thoughts from a technical writer's perspective | Aug 5, 2017
Why simple language isn't so simple: the struggle to create plain language in documentation | Jul 27, 2017
The problem with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in documentation | Jun 23, 2017
Amazon begins pilot with voice-interactive user manuals | Apr 1, 2017
Simplifying my life and writing | Mar 15, 2017
Guest post -- The effects of terminology consistency on the reader's comprehension and attitude | Mar 10, 2017
Adobe FrameMaker 2017 -- time, tools, and the tech writer’s focus on content | Mar 6, 2017
Are technical writing blogs growing or dying? | Jan 5, 2016
What is the technical writer's role in content marketing? | Jan 4, 2016
Analyzing top posts on my blog during 2015 — Deciding between brand versus readership | Jan 1, 2016
Guest Post: Could Software Perform Technical Writing? by Robert Desprez | Dec 4, 2015
The Author Experience -- Interview with Rick Yagodich | Nov 5, 2014
The Rebirth of My Podcast | Dec 11, 2012
Incorporating Elements of Speech into Writing | Sep 18, 2012
Guest Post: Core Skills for Technical Writers Often Overlooked | Aug 16, 2012
Writing as a Holy Calling | Jul 9, 2012
Is Collaborative Authoring Over-Hyped? | Jun 12, 2012
A Life of Its Own: An Essay About an Article That Was Never Published | Feb 8, 2012
A Reverse Approach to Help Authoring: Writing Documentation Post-Release | Feb 2, 2012
A Lifetime of Reading Versus a Lifetime of Writing | Jan 13, 2012
Writing My Last Chapter | Dec 13, 2011
Why Is Corporate Blogging So Hard? | Jun 21, 2011
What Does It Mean to Be Innovative? | May 24, 2011
Text Matters | Nov 5, 2010
Being Contrarian | Oct 29, 2010
Tiny Tasks and Content Dilution | Jun 29, 2010
Typography for Lawyers | Apr 29, 2010
The Long Tail Applied to Writing | Apr 20, 2010
NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo Start Nov 1 | Nov 1, 2009
Choosing Between Academic and Corporate Life: Did I Make the Wrong Choice? | Oct 10, 2009
"Tell me a story" -- Advice from Writers | Sep 17, 2009
Write When Inspired, Rest When Tired | Aug 10, 2009
Blogging as an Outlet for Technical Writers | Jul 31, 2009
50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills | Developers Toolbox | Smashing Magazine | Jun 28, 2009
Why I Don't Take Freelance Writing Jobs Anymore | Mar 19, 2009
Great Books by Writers Who Aren't Dead Yet | Jan 21, 2009
'Lost the Fire – How to Rekindle It' – A Second Response | Nov 7, 2008
Answering Reader's Questions: 'My Desire to Write Burns in My Heart Daily' | Oct 7, 2008
Interview with Me in TechCraft | Jul 1, 2008
Stoking the Creative Muse: How Finding Ideas to Write About Is Similar to Remembering Your Dreams | Feb 29, 2008
"A self-forgetful, perfectly useless concentration" | Oct 25, 2007
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.
If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the tech comm, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.