The (Technical) Write Stuff

Andrew Kaplan has written hundreds of books during his lifetime. Chances are, though, that you’ve never heard of him or read his work. Kaplan’s books aren’t found at Brentano’s or at your local library.

Kaplan is a technical writer, author of such esoteric titles as the Quarterdeck InternetSuite User Guide, Trillium’s SS7 Platform Manual, the Oracle Fast Start Guide, the Solaris JumpStart Reference Manual and Amdahl’s X.25 Network Processor Operator’s Guide.

Like many technical writers, Kaplan didn’t plan this career path. “No one grows up wanting to be a technical writer,� he said. In 1975, he was fresh out of grad school and perusing the want ads when he saw that Computer Sciences Corp. needed a writer with a financial background to document a new software package. “The pubs manager at CSC took a chance on me,� said Kaplan, who holds degrees in English, linguistics, chemical engineering and finance. “I took to it like a duck to water. I was fascinated by the technology. I wanted to learn more about the underlying architecture of the software I was writing about.�

Kaplan is currently writing design specifications and operational manuals for system administrators installing a new UNIX-based network at Hughes Aircraft. “When I started in this field, technical writers wrote--and that’s all,� Kaplan said. “You had word processors who typed your manual, editors who edited it, formatters who did the layout and illustrators who created the graphics. These days, the technical writer does all that. So not only do you need the technical background and top-notch writing skills, but you must be a desktop publishing expert too.�

Another development that has recently had an impact on technical writing is the emergence of company intranets. The manuals for Hughes will probably end up on the in-house Web site. “It is infinitely easier to update one document on an intranet than 2,000 hard-copy manuals,� he said. Ultimately, this adds an additional skill set--HTML, hypertext and Web page design--that technical writers must master.

The job market in Southern California is hot right now for technical communicators, said Shish Aikat, a technical writer with Warner Bros. MIS department and the president of the L.A. chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.

“Our chapter maintains a member job bank that lists upward of 50 open positions at any given time,� he said. According to figures provided by Aikat, annual salaries for technical writers in Southern California range from $40,000 to $60,000 or more. Kaplan’s income, however, is well into the six figures.

Kaplan’s secret for super-success: He’s taken great pains to become conversant in the technology he writes about.

“When UNIX programmers would tell me they’re going to ‘grep init.d for nfsservers,’ I’d ask questions and work on the computers until I understood what they were talking about and could write about it clearly and accurately. Now I know almost as much about UNIX as they do. It’s critical to talk the same language as the developers and then, ultimately, be able to speak to your readers.�

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Bio: Andrew Kaplan

Job: Technical writer

Employer: Self-employed, currently under contract to Sun Microsystems Inc. and Hughes Aircraft Co.

Experience: Technical communications consultant; publications manager for Versyss Inc.; documentation consultant and writer; director of corporate communications for Protocol Computers; publications manager for Amdahl Corp.; freelance writer and consultant; head writer and senior marketing specialist for Computer Sciences Corp.

Education: Bachelor’s in chemical engineering, Ben Gurion University, Israel; bachelor’s in English and linguistics, Tel-Aviv University, Israel; MBA, Oregon State University