Style Me "Journalist"

Style! Some of us want it, some of us have it, and some of us aspire to perfect it into an original. By no means am I referring to fashion, although it can be applied to this notion. I am talking about writing style. When I first started working for the Forum Publishing Group, a subsidiary of the Sun-Sentinel, I was elated at the thought of being able to apply my writing style to every given assignment by my editor. I quickly learned that this would not be the case during the course of my my employment (booooo!!!). My editor informed me that there was a specific style that I had to follow to ensure the satisfaction of our forever, faithful readers. I had to conform my style to both the seasoned writers and the boring standards of the company. Doing so was difficult because the company did not possess a style guide like the one Philip J. Rydeski mentions in Making a Guide With Style. As a result, I found myself taking notes every time my editor sent me an email with a list of corrections to make. In addition, I was constantly seeking the advice of co-workers who each had something different to say about the matter at hand. I later learned that none of their opinions (or teachings) mattered because at the end of the day, we all had to march to the beat of our editor's drum for the sake of our...(drum roll please)...readers. Why? Well, Donald Norman states an interesting concept that pretty much sums it all in Writing as Design, Design as Writing. He explains that in order "to be successful, writing has to follow basic psychological principles. And then [it] must be tested, tried out with readers who are similar to the intended audience, and then revised in whatever manner the test results indicate". This theory, as I imagine, may have been FPG's protocol in deciding what writing style worked best for our readers. Whatever the case may be, I side with Linda Driskill who points out that "writing well is not merely conforming to genre conventions, as some of the genre-based approaches have implied." This is basically what I struggled with at work. I felt as if my writing style was slowly shedding with each critique I received from my boss. She never missed a beat when it came time to tell me that my style did not fit in the company's guidelines. I learned to not take these criticisms personally because I understood that I was dealing with a much different genre (journalism) than that of writing in my journal. With that being said, I am happy to know that I can at least incorporate my style of writing in the blogsphere where no rules apply- only creativity and originality!

The Curious Case of the Red Square Icon

As I reflect on the readings of Robert R. Johnson's Audience Involved: Toward a Participatory Model of Writing, I find myself recalling the day that I received my new Samsung Beat cellular phone. I remember ripping the box open, pushing all the manuals aside, and turning on my new device. I played around with the settings until I had almost everything figured out-from adding in contacts, setting up ring tones and uploading pictures. Subconsciously, I took the manual and placed it in a safe place. I didn't really need it, or so I thought... One day I came across a flashing red square icon on my phone's display. At that moment, I immediately pulled out the manual and looked up all the icons and their meanings. I was surprised to see that the red square icon was not listed. So I read the manual to its entirety -because simply skimming through it would not do- and still found nothing regarding the icon. Frustrated, I called my service provider. The customer representative that I spoke with was of no help. Upon realizing this, she transferred me to technical support. To my dismay, technical support was also of no help. According to them, they had never heard of nor seen a flashing red square icon appearing on the type of model phone that I had. My husband and I had tried to figure it out (for a month), when it finally dawned to me that every time I emptied out the text messages in my inbox, the icon disappeared. Basically, the icon's purpose was to serve as an indicator that my inbox was full! Who would've known? Certainly, not the technical support staff at T-mobile! Who could blame them? They were only doing what I did- which was reading through a manual written by some technical writer or writers who probably did not care about the users' needs. I can't help but wonder, if there were any usability testing involved, whereas users gave feedback during the conceptual, design and production stages of my phone? And if so, how much of that feedback was taken into consideration? Johnson states that usability testing is limited to fully developed technologies. Wouldn't you agree that cell phones are part of fully developed technologies? And, are we, the users, not the group that most technical communicators would claim to be helping? I am not sure what to think, but I must agree with Johndan Johnson-Eilola who states that "the common practice of instructing users in functional but not conceptual aspects of technologies can adversely or even fatally affect [them]." Consider me a part of the former notion!

Technically Challenged

I remember the instant hesitation I felt as I debated whether or not to take this course- Technical Writing. The first word of the title alone presented a challenge, even though it was associated with writing, my forte. Perhaps my lack of knowledge of what the course entailed (despite reading the description and learning outcome over and over) was what intimidated me the most. Whatever the case was, I had to take that leap because, honestly, I needed a second course to add to my schedule. So, here I am, a non-swimmer, in a body of water with no life jacket. Yet, my need to survive is in full gear and I am confident that I am going to make it out of this alive. Hey, work with me here. If Amanda Metz Bemer, a student in the the field of technical communication, did it, so can I. According to Bemer, Technical communication as a field has struggled over the years to define itself (kudos to me for trying to understand it). To add to that revelation, she quotes Jo Allen, who states that all definitions of technical communication thus far seem to focus on a "single aspect of technical writing." However, this is not something that she is willing to accept. In her determination to define this field, she suggests that professors and graduate students are in need of it. Personally, I am not in dire need of it, but I am curious and do sympathize with the frustrated individuals that are either in the field academically or professionally, or contemplating that route. Who would want to deal with having to explain a major or a job description with no real clue on how to? Perhaps technical communicators should generate a manual on "defining technical writing" and leave out the technical stuff for technically challenged people like myself, technically speaking. Bemer may just be the one to do it. I just hope by the end of this semester I leave this class realizing that I was never drowning- just simply holding my breath in a 3 ft. pool.