Broke
into technical writing back in the days when....
...it
was common to change one's major from Medical Microbiology and Hard Sciences to
English Lit when the dream of becoming a veterinarian was dashed by being told
by three schools that their quota for female students had been filled for the
next three years.
...the
English Lit degree (with Comp Sci and Journalism minors) turned out to qualify
one for an entry-level job as a clerk-typist in a small company -- if one
happened also to type 118 words per minute.
...one
stuck it out through promotions of title instead of money to Documentation
Specialist, Technical Editor, and back to Documentation Specialist (yes, it was
a promotion and this time they even tacked some money onto
it).
...a
Technical Writer degree was not possible as long as one lacked a Master's Degree
in Mechanical Engineering.
Along
the way I scooped up more training in technical areas including computer
programming and lots of experience (that stuff one gets when one does not
get what one really wanted). Stayed married for 19 years, survived a bunch
of stuff including being hit by a truck as I led a horse along the side of the
road. About the same time that I achieved certification as an internal ISO
9000 auditor, I also became a trainer of trainers in creative conflict
resolution (a very useful skill), bought and lost a farm (a fourteen-year
process), served on a statewide organic farm certification board, and operated
one of the first community-supported agriculture projects in New York
State. To manage stress I became a peer counselor in re-evaluation
co-counseling, took up meditation, and next month will complete Reiki Master
work (I'm presently a 2nd Degree Practitioner).
I am
presently the sole technical writer at a rural USA dry foods packaging plant
owned by a Canadian corporation, charged with developing the documentation
to create and support a quality management system that's fully
compliant with ISO 13485. I'm also the sole ISO "expert"
here.
In
copious free time I practice heavy gardening or light farming and train
large (150-200 lb.) goats to carry pack saddles and go camping, and pull carts
and garden cultivators in harness. Managed to hang onto four of my pet
goats through the farm loss, sent the other four to foster care near
Buffalo. The goats found a five-acre farmette on the Erie Canal
towpath that had been essentially abandoned for 35 years; I'm leasing it with a
3-year purchase option and creating an intentional community with resident and
non-resident members to develop it as a working organic herb farm and
education center. I expect this to be my "retirement" job in ten
years, maybe also continue part time as Lead Auditor and Consultant for a
smoothly-operating and successful QMS at the packaging
plant.
As
hobbies I sing and play fiddle and autoharp (essentially a 36-string guitar) and
djembe drum (not all at the same time) at the Rochester Golden Link Folksinging
Society, and I greatly enjoy listening to Coast to Coast AM radio talk shows out
in the gardens and goat browsing field while I work or just hang out in a
hammock. I have spent many happy all-nighters Filking* at Toronto SF
conventions with Gordy Dickson and the Dorsai Irregulars and Stan Rogers and
Filthy Pierre. Good memories.
Dori
Green
Technical Writer, Quality Management System Project
Associated Brands, Inc.
Medina, New York
*Filking: staying up very late or all night at
science fiction conventions to drink obscure brands of whiskey (can I spell
Tullamore Dew? Not after three of them) and sing "Filthy Folk Songs",
usually (but not always) traditional tunes with new lyrics containing a science
fiction or fantasy theme. Typical
songs in the genre include but are not limited to "High Fly the Nazgul-O" and
"Keeper of the Asteroid Light".
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