Writing technical papers 10

[flamby]

It was suggested in a thread that one may use one's spare time for writing technical stuff. Well, a slump is a luxury which most of you are unlikely to have. How many of you actually go out to write the papers about what you have done and get it published? Indeed it looks great on your CV and helps you getting the interviewer impressed in your next job interview.

I always thought of it but never did it because either I had not done something dramatically smart, or was plain lazy, or wasn't sure how is it going to help me.

I wish to know your views.

Ciao.

 

[PSE]

Personally, I would rather write patent applications than articles (haven't done either). I know of one person who wrote and published a paper. It had no immediate impact on his job or position but it indeed helped when it came to looking for other jobs. I know of one individual who may write for several magazines as they are thinking of starting their own practice and it might help with name recognition and building a client list.

Regards,

 

[GregLocock]

Never had the time, inside work. Outside work I'd rather write about what interests me, which means that things tend to get a bit compressed, as I'd rather people put some effort into understanding.

Here's a thing I wrote for a knowledgeable but non-engineering audience.

http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-077.htm

That took about 15 hours or so.




Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[Rich2001]

During my 23 year career:
· Wrote several magazine articles.
. Co-authored a Pre-Engineering Guidebook for High School Teachers.
. Co-authored the State Curriculum for Polymer Processing Technology for two-year colleges.
· Wrote technical maintenance and operating manuals for equipment I developed.
· Developed and wrote the quality system and wrote the Quality Control Manuals and procedures for two (2) companies.
· Wrote letters and reports on technical issues that I sent to various members of the local, state and federal government.
· Wrote several patent applications, which were then turned over to the patent attorney to finalize.
· Wrote suggested revisions to technical standards (AWS and ASTM).

The biggest problem with writing is that the mind thinks at 500 wpm (words per minute), one talks between 80 and 120 wpm and an average person type around 30 wpm. By the time it gets on paper one's thoughts are well beyond the what the hand is doing. This forces the use the outline, draft and rewrite sequence.

Hint: Write a draft, put it away for a few days if possible, before reading and editing.

Here are a few good links on the topic -
NASA SP-7084 Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editor

http://stipo.larc.nasa.gov/sp7084/index.html

Technical writing links

http://www.english.vt.edu/~jcollier/tw/links.html

 

[sms]

I have written papers for national syposia including the Texas A&M turbomachinery symposium, the National Petroleum Refiners Association, the Vibration Institute, and the Predictive Maintenace Technology Conference. Papers for that sort of venue take considerable time and effort. But I really got started by speaking at the diner meetings of the local chapters of the ASME or the Vibration Institute. Those organizations are always looking for speakers, and at those venues, all you really need to do is put together 20 power point slides and talk for 30 minutes, and there you go something to put on your resume that HR people like to see...

 

[EngJW]

If you write a paper that is job related, I wonder if you have to clear it through the company lawyers and layers of management. That could be pretty discouraging as what you get back may not even resemble what you wrote. On the other hand, writing for magazines about topics that you are interested in could be rewarding. It could be difficult getting an article accepted. The editors would have to judge whether it would appeal to their readers.

I took all my engineering notes collected over the years and arranged them into useful forms, like charts, lists, and procedures. It was all put on a cd so there is no need to dig through file cabinets to do a calculation that was done 10 years ago. You get no credit for doing this other than personal satisfaction and being able to do it your way without the bosses permission. You could not publish anything like this if it has any copyrighted graphs or illustrations.

 

[jmw]

"Publish or die" would appear to be the driving axiom in the halls of academia (some would say; to the detriment of teaching.)

The reasons for this would appear to be simple. Publishing attracts grants and investment and this helps in gaining tenure.

In industry it attracts sales.

In other words, unless you value your name in print above all else, money is a key motivational force. What you write has to be commercial not only for the organisation you write on behalf of but also for the publishers who hope to attract advertising revenue from the quality of the material they publish.

Advertising is expensive but it is not the only way to help publicise a company. There are many ways to get "free publicity": editorials, press releases and articles etc.

For the individual it generates recognition which can be invaluable when moving to a new company or setting up ones own. Maybe it benefits one within ones own company but if you expect this, I would suggest you are unrealistic. Truth is, in some companies, you can be "too clever by half".

To be sure, there is certain self-satisfaction to be derived from seeing ones work in print, especially in peer journals. There is even greater satisfaction when you see evidence of the effectiveness of your writing. One article I wrote was designed to help exploit a new market. I then spent some time supporting the sales team, agents and distributors. We visited one potential client, expecting to meet just the chief marine superintendent and were confronted with he, the senior trader (bunker fuels) and the companies managing director who brought with him a copy of the article. In this, as in all activities, the message is that writing is not enough by itself. It can be most effective when it is made part of come campaign with clear objectives. It is pointless writing or advertising if the sales team are not equipped with the tools to capitalise on your efforts or if they are not mandated to some course of follow up action.

I have to say that on a personal level, peer recognition is the most satisfying outcome of any endeavour. Nothing beats knowing that you have said something that others value.

Most probably, you will be writing as a specialist in a particular field and with the belssing or encouragement of your employers.

Some of the benefits are:
(a) personal satisfaction
(b) professional peer recognition
(c) financial: Maybe not directly to you, but if it brings something to your company one can live in hopes, often confounded, that it will bring some financial benefit to you personally from your company. More probably it will be more tangible an asset when you decide to start your own company.
(d) career this can be both negative or positive. As has been discussed in other threads there are dangers in being seen as "clever" or at least, cleverer than your co-worker or even your managers who are sometimes threatened by anyone with ability. Best value is probably in ones CV/Resume.

If you write reports, or manuals, or even give presentations within your company or even if you write yourself notes prior to aid you at meetings, you are already on the path.

A good start as a dedicated writer may be to produce articles for the house magazine or even for client accessed publications. Many companies express an interest in publishing house magazines but often find that getting material is the problem. Enthusiasm from the many soon reduces to a few stalwarts who seem to write everything. You will thus find your house magazine an avaricious client for anything you want to write. This is the easiest form of writing (in my opinion) since often the "publisher" is more interested in filling space than in actual quality of the content. A look at any company magazine will demonstrate this, especially if you find lots of stories about the works outing or the fish old Joe caught in a publication being sent to clients (who could care less).

Once they have your material they may well re-write it. Your target, as you develop your writing skills, is to see the editorial changes (and grammatical and spelling corrections) eliminated.

From there you develop to writing for trade publications or professional audiences.

Papers:
I've co-authored a paper for the Texas A&M 2000 instrument symposium and a paper for the IBIA 2004 conference in Buenos Aires, plus my material has been used by others to give papers at various ISA meetings in the USA which I shall claim credit for.
Papers usually have to be non-commercial and have something new to say.

Articles:
I wrote four articles published by Hydrocarbon Engineering on a one per year basis, two for Bunker News and one for Bunkerspot (and provided a journalist with material he only marginally edited for an Automotive manufacturing trade magazine).

I have also written numerous press releases and "editorials" In fact, when added together it seemed to me an impressive collection but far below output of the majority.

Some of my press releases resulted in requests for articles and some spawned requests to other companies for complimentary or contradictory articles. One press release found a subject so topical that it was run in every single media outlet (paper and internet) that it was sent to. If you find a good topic, this is not so hard as it might seem. It only requires that you are an avaricious reader and on the lookout for an opportunity.

Each outlet represents a different set of challenges for the writer. Some need to be non-commercial, some can be blatantly commercial. All need to have something new or of interest. Your opinions will be valued more if you are prolific and can gain some sort of status, through your activity, as an “expert”.

Different publications have different styles. Some publication require a low-tech approach and others insist on good technical content. Some are very strict about word count. Others more flexible.

In other words, you need to write for a target audience and be able to write in the style and format of the publication you are aiming at. The less work they have to do to convert your submission into the published form, the more likely you are to be published.

Early on I found it invaluable to work with a publicity agency. I have been fortune to work with some good ones. They are not technical. They can help you with style and presentation, matching to the target publication and even finding outlets.

Finally, one should not neglect the value of forums such as this. I have made many posts (though that is not to equate quantity with quality) and even produced a few "FAQs". This has proven valuable to me personally, though this wasn’t why I contributed. But as you are here, and posting, you are already building an audience and enjoying the opportunity to share opinions with your peers. Fortunately, you can do so here anonymously and your mistakes will not haunt you!
Incidentally, I understand “blogging” is an increasingly useful outlet for those with writing ambitions; anyone any experience of this?


JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[Comcokid]

Many employers I have worked for have discouraged doing technical papers. This seems to go along with a work philosophy that an engineer is just a cog in their machine and the cog should perform certain function and no more. I did one paper while at such a company only because sales wanted to promote a product using a new technology.

But one employer I've had encouraged this activity as a way of giving more exposure to the company and products. I did two papers with this company, both of which were well received.

Doing technical papers requires a lot of effort, but it is rewarding in that it gets more attention to your resume. Better yet is applying for, and obtaining patents. It results in a reference on your resume that is easy to find and check unlike technical papers in obscure journals.

 

[ProbaSci]

jlwood,

My experience with corporate attorneys is that they really don't bother too much with my writings. They are concerned about getting TM or circle R and product names correct, but typically don't get too involved with the scientific detail.

I was actually a little disappointed that they didn't give it a bit more attention, giving my work into crafting such fascinating reading....

http://www.probasci.com

-
Implantable FEA for medical device manufacturers

 

[Myndex]

PSE: I've written both articles and patents. I prefer articles, as they are usually something I can knock out in a day (1000 word size). Not that I don't get a certain perverse satisfaction from writing in the arcane language of patentease, but it can be a long and grueling process. (for instance US 6,802,758 was 42 pages as submitted, ending up 17 pages as published. A 1000 word article is about 2 pages as submitted)

Rich: While it is true that one can "think" at up to 800 wpm, even the most prolific write can't "write" at that speed - and not because of the user interface called the QWERTY keyboard, either.

While I can type at around 60 wpm, I can "write" at around 200 to 300 words per HOUR. (that's only 3 to 5 words per minute!!!) And I know writers that are envious of this speed. If I'm really cranking and I really know what I want to say and don't need to do any research, I might be able to get it up to maybe 400 words per hour. Any more than that and you'll be in Stephen King land!

Even though one can think in spurts of up to 800 wpm, the creative speed of forming thoughts into cohesive structure is a much slower process. The limiting factor really is not typing speed (though being a better typer does make writing less tedious).

As far as outlines - some people like them - but they were really most useful before word processors. In those bygone days you'd end up doing several drafts, fully retyping each one, so the outline was a way to develop structure more efficiently. Today, I rarely use outlines, and simply form the structure as I go, going back as needed to re-work.

---

And I'd like to say that writing is good not only for exposure - I think you'll find that if you write for a publication that the editor of that publication will want to make changes and review your work. This can be very helpful in developing your writing skills when you have to write a report for your employer or client. (Nothing is quite as humbling as getting an MS Word document back with "track changes" on, and seeing loads of red.)

Yet another reason to write and publish is that you are contributing to the lexicon of human knowledge. Your anecdotes, experiences and insights are all important to share. While you may not develop some ground-breaking new way of though, the cumulative development of ideas in small increments is what leads us to the greatest progress over time.

Adding your body of knowledge and experience to the collective pot of ideas is among the most important things you can do.


Regards,


Andy

 

[Ron]

I write articles on "my" time. My company provides incentives for published articles. That has not been my motivation. I write because I have something to say that might benefit someone in our profession. If it does..great. If not, Oh well.

I have numerous published articles. It seems to impress people on my resume, which helps my company attract new business. All of that is good.

 

[plasgears]

1. In the QS9000 quality system used in automotive, there is QC encouragement to write Work Instructions (WI). This applies to all operating departments in a company. WI activity is a good outlet for individual expertise in a specialty. For example, I wrote 14 WI in the area of gears and gearboxes. The QC mgr was pleased. WI are trotted out during quality audits.

2. When I had a stint on an engineering magazine, I found that submitted articles primarily came from marketing firms for manufactured products. There was an unwritten rule that these firms would buy advertising. Others submitted articles, but we observed a strange phenomenon; published authors had short longevity at their firms. Maybe they got hired away by the competition, or there were sensitivities in the company management. (???)

 

[Myndex]

but we observed a strange phenomenon; published authors had short longevity at their firms. Maybe they got hired away by the competition, or there were sensitivities in the company management.

Maybe the kind of person that likes to write is the kind of person that likes to be independent, and the articles lead them to independent consulting? That's certainly my case - I like to write, and I'm not a 9 to 5er...


A

 

[svanels]

I have written Standard Operating Procedures, Work Instructions, Technical articles for the companies magazine, safety procedures a paper for a mechanical engineering congress, etc.. and it gives personal satisfaction and recognition. If you can encourage others to write by setting an example it gives even more satisfaction, especially using a digital camera.
One of our mechanics came with some sugestions to make some modifications for fueling our fire waterpumps. I told him to take some pictures at the area, so we could discuss it. I received a 6 page document, text and pictures and realized that the guy had done a JSA.

Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr