It's a Miracle!
Miraculously I got all my work done and my classes are done! It was so much work, I was non-stop working on something. On the last day of my Fundamentals of Tech Writing class we had a class discussion about the group projects. I went off about how it should be optional on discretion of the instructor regarding whether someone needed to work in a group or not. I think people who have experience taking the class just to get the certificate should be able to do a solo project. In my case, I can do layouts and writing and I needed to do something more challenging to really get something out of the class. I ended up having to do extra work in order to get any value out of the class.
Of course I had never said any of this to the people in my group and they probably thought I was a total bitch after I just went off. I was diplomatic, but I blatantly stated that I could have done our project in a weekend by myself. My intention was not to devalue their work, I just think they did a lot more than they needed to do for the purpose of the class. I also think while the layout of the brochure is totally stellar (thank me for that) the writing content is very amateur.
I don't feel that the fundamentals class really helped my writing. I don't feel I did enough actual writing. We had two big exercises and both were group things and when I was participating in the writing with my group there was a lot of tension. They wanted to challenge every decision I was making, when I knew that the decisions I was making were common sense. I have experience writing documents and having people use them, and getting feedback from the people using them, and then editing them to be more clear. They had never written anything "instruction-like" before. For the sake of the group dynamic, I stepped aside and let them do all the writing and editing so they could learn for themselves, rather than taking my word for it. I did talk to the instructor about that and he felt I did the right thing. The thing that sucked is I had to sacrifice my own class experience for the sake of the group. I could have been a real asshole and just did everything, but I didn't care enough about our project.
I would have preferred a more individual writing focus. I am concerned because I don't know that I'm getting that from any of my classes. What I want is small assignments where we turn in writing and have the instructor review it and give us feedback. I think I'll get more of that in later classes. I just hope there aren't anymore group projects.
I spent time at Defcon researching and testing out procedures for my individual project, the USB Creator docs, which will be in the System Documentation for the next Karmic release. Once I'd completed basic layouts for the group project and finished my doc design project, I pounded out the USB docs. It took me about 2 days to do. There were a few areas that needed improvement but the feedback I got from the doc team helped out with that. I am really pleased with how they came out and I got a lot of positive response.
I'm also pleased with how my doc design project came out. I created an Ubuntu Command Line Interface reference in PocketMod format. I edited a FOSS guide that I found on the net, but I feel I changed it significantly enough that I didn't need to reference the original document in mine.
So my goal for the summer was to take a bunch of classes so I have enough pieces for a small portfolio. I achieved that goal and I'm really proud of myself. I have 4 items in my portfolio - a Usability study writeup, the Ubuntu CLI pocketmod, the Ubuntu USB Creator doc, and the Intro and Basic sections of the Packaging Guide edit/rewrite I did. The only thing I really need in there to round it out is a Whitepaper, which I'll get when I do the Whitepaper class this Fall.
I found a job posting I am applying for. I have an appointment this afternoon with someone to review my resume. Depending on how much feedback I get and what the proposed timeline is, I may wait until I have a revision before applying. My goal is to send an application by Friday.
It's been pretty tough for me to find jobs that look interesting. I'm holding out for something that looks really special. I saw a few that looked good while I was in class but the timing wasn't right. I want challenging Technical Writing work. Something where I get to work with source code or really intensely technical stuff. That stuff is fun because I love being challenged and I love learning. When I write about something deeply technical I get really engaged in it because I'm learning about it too.
Anyways so we'll see what pans out. I hope I at least get an interview for this position but I may not have enough writing experience. The goal of my resume revision is to tell my story as a technical person who has always done writing and that I've evolved to a place where I'm wanting to take on writing as a primary specialized function.
Of course I had never said any of this to the people in my group and they probably thought I was a total bitch after I just went off. I was diplomatic, but I blatantly stated that I could have done our project in a weekend by myself. My intention was not to devalue their work, I just think they did a lot more than they needed to do for the purpose of the class. I also think while the layout of the brochure is totally stellar (thank me for that) the writing content is very amateur.
I don't feel that the fundamentals class really helped my writing. I don't feel I did enough actual writing. We had two big exercises and both were group things and when I was participating in the writing with my group there was a lot of tension. They wanted to challenge every decision I was making, when I knew that the decisions I was making were common sense. I have experience writing documents and having people use them, and getting feedback from the people using them, and then editing them to be more clear. They had never written anything "instruction-like" before. For the sake of the group dynamic, I stepped aside and let them do all the writing and editing so they could learn for themselves, rather than taking my word for it. I did talk to the instructor about that and he felt I did the right thing. The thing that sucked is I had to sacrifice my own class experience for the sake of the group. I could have been a real asshole and just did everything, but I didn't care enough about our project.
I would have preferred a more individual writing focus. I am concerned because I don't know that I'm getting that from any of my classes. What I want is small assignments where we turn in writing and have the instructor review it and give us feedback. I think I'll get more of that in later classes. I just hope there aren't anymore group projects.
I spent time at Defcon researching and testing out procedures for my individual project, the USB Creator docs, which will be in the System Documentation for the next Karmic release. Once I'd completed basic layouts for the group project and finished my doc design project, I pounded out the USB docs. It took me about 2 days to do. There were a few areas that needed improvement but the feedback I got from the doc team helped out with that. I am really pleased with how they came out and I got a lot of positive response.
I'm also pleased with how my doc design project came out. I created an Ubuntu Command Line Interface reference in PocketMod format. I edited a FOSS guide that I found on the net, but I feel I changed it significantly enough that I didn't need to reference the original document in mine.
So my goal for the summer was to take a bunch of classes so I have enough pieces for a small portfolio. I achieved that goal and I'm really proud of myself. I have 4 items in my portfolio - a Usability study writeup, the Ubuntu CLI pocketmod, the Ubuntu USB Creator doc, and the Intro and Basic sections of the Packaging Guide edit/rewrite I did. The only thing I really need in there to round it out is a Whitepaper, which I'll get when I do the Whitepaper class this Fall.
I found a job posting I am applying for. I have an appointment this afternoon with someone to review my resume. Depending on how much feedback I get and what the proposed timeline is, I may wait until I have a revision before applying. My goal is to send an application by Friday.
It's been pretty tough for me to find jobs that look interesting. I'm holding out for something that looks really special. I saw a few that looked good while I was in class but the timing wasn't right. I want challenging Technical Writing work. Something where I get to work with source code or really intensely technical stuff. That stuff is fun because I love being challenged and I love learning. When I write about something deeply technical I get really engaged in it because I'm learning about it too.
Anyways so we'll see what pans out. I hope I at least get an interview for this position but I may not have enough writing experience. The goal of my resume revision is to tell my story as a technical person who has always done writing and that I've evolved to a place where I'm wanting to take on writing as a primary specialized function.