The Lighter Side of Tech Docs

Some technical writers take themselves awfully seriously.  That may be because not enough of our colleagues take us seriously enough.  So lighten up and enjoy.  You're in a profession surrounded by the quickest wits around.

Was life better for writers before computers?

Click here to find out - unique photographic evidence of the tech writer's life without computers, single sourcing, reuse and DITA.
Submitted by Katriel Reichman, www.methodm.com

If a tech writer wrote a book...

Inside every tech writer there is a book just itching to come out.  But what would its title be?  What genre?  Here are some suggestions (Submitted by Katriel Reichman, www.methodm.com):

• Whodunit:  Who Misspelled the Company Name?
• Mystery:  Did the Product Manager Really Proofread?
• History: A Guide to Product Revisions Since 1987
• Self-help: Survival Guide for Auto Numbering in Word
• Thriller: The Day Documentation Delayed Product Release
  (Mumpy suggests cataloging this title as Science Fiction).

Useless but fun information

Tech writers (and product support staff) have, on occasion, supplied absolutely accurate but totally useless information.  Here are a few examples. (Submitted anonymously)

• A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
• Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
• A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
• Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
• A calendar's days are numbered.

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