I Have an Actual Job as a Technical Writer!

It's been a while since I posted here. My life and career have been turning somersaults for the past year, but in short, I haven't written a damn thing for a year and a half. My YA novel first draft sits as a first draft, and since I last wrote anything, I took up thrifting and selling more on eBay as both a hobby and a way to earn extra money for the family. So, that's kept me busy. And it's brought in more money than my writing ever did. Not that I don't miss writing. I do. Perhaps I need a break from it as I try different things.

I worked my last job for over two years, which was at a tiny manufacturing company. While I was there, I wrote the manuals for the product they sold.

Then our baby boy was born in February of this year. He's five months old now and is named Zachary.

I lost my job May of this year and was unemployed three months. During that time I thrifted and sold almost full time on eBay, among other projects.

THEN I got a job doing what I've been trying to get for years: technical writing. A large manufacturing company was looking for a technical writer (through a temp agency) for a 4-6 month project, and I interviewed and was hired because of my writing background (with four history books published), plus my manufacturing background in exactly what this company manufactures: complex machines in injection molding.

Although it's a temp job, it could last longer than 4-6 months. If not, this solid experience of working with both Interleaf and FrameMaker will help get my next technical writing job. Hopefully, anyway.

Anyhow, I wanted to share the goal I finally met in my career, and where I've been all this time if anyone's wondered.

Thank you! With my technical background and writing background, I've been trying to get a job like this for years. But it's a catch-22: you can't be a technical writer without having already been a technical writer. ??? Anyhow, in my last job, I wrote manuals for the product the company manufactured and sold, but that was only part of my job duties. That experience was enough of a boost to get me this job, along with my manufacturing experience. This company manufactures machines that I've worked with and wired before, so I was a good match.

Finally. A job that I like.