An unclear antecedent is what happens when you can’t tell which noun a pronoun is supposed to stand in for.

writing editing podcast

Here’s what’s on my plate (or should I say, shaping my algorithm?) these days.

resources writing editing

Aim to write concisely and make every word in your sentence count. But don’t make it dry - your words should still have life and color.

writing editing podcast

I used to be a really good writer. I mean, this thing I wrote back in 2014 is finger-kiss-good mwah. What’s it got? It’s light but weighty. It conveys a point neatly, has my voice, is just the right length,...

writing editing foster

This year I encountered the phrase “career dysmorphia”. I think I have this! Ever since going freelance, I have struggled to value my own achievements and see how much I’ve grown. I find that writing these yearly wrap-ups help me...

open-source editing tech-writing

In October 2022, I was pleased to be interviewed by a Googler friend of mine who was presenting at Burning Pen, Google’s internal tech writer conference. We discussed all things open source from a tech writer point of view.

open-source tech-writing

Wallets are integral to interacting with blockchain technology. Unfortunately, the wallet mental model is misleading, and the term “wallet” is a bit of a misnomer.

web3 blockchain

I’m very pleased and proud to receive a Google Open Source Peer Bonus award. Yay!

open-source tech-writing

I encourage technical writers and documentarians to check out episode #2 of The Interface Podcast: Do content designers need portfolios?

tech-writing resources job-hunting

In February this year I used the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to buy my eth name—my first experience doing anything on a blockchain.

web3 blockchain

With over 220 channels and more than 15,000 people, the Write the Docs Slack can get noisy. Here is how I use Slack to navigate one of the best free tech writing resources around!

resources tech-writing write-the-docs

Tom Johnson wrote a series about the ‘trends to follow or forget in tech comm’. He’s put a lot of work into pulling it together and I encourage you to check it out. I feel like I could call BINGO!...

tech-writing

Open source projects have many visible cues (or signals) that let people make rich inferences about the health of the project and the tone of its community. These signals inform their decision about using a product or joining a project....

open-source writing content-strategy

I’m pleased to see an ever-increasing amount of content being created by tech writers for tech writers.

resources tech-writing

Here is a round-up of some podcasts (and one YouTuber) that I’m particularly enjoying right now.

resources tech-writing

A writing portfolio is a collection of samples of your own writing—basically, it shows what you can do. A strong portfolio goes further and shows how you think. Whether it’s private or public, it’s a good idea to have one,...

tech-writing open-source job-hunting

Web3 is a polarizing issue. It’s difficult to find balanced views on the topic, which means you have to traverse the two extremes (for and against) to form your own view.

web3 resources

Another challenging year during which I achieved more than I thought I would.

open-source talks writing editing

As a technical writer, I can relate to DevRel.

devrel tech-writing editing

You don’t often see a technical book amongst the list of DevRel content creation.

typo3 devrel writing open-source

August 2021 marked the final episode of my favorite podcast, Answer Me This! Do yourself a favor and check it out.

love-this

A list of newsletters that I subscribe to for work and play.

resources devrel writing

I’m proud of everything I achieved during such a challenging year.

open-source talks tech-writing

I presented this talk at the Write the Docs Meetup Melbourne in February 2020.

season-of-docs write-the-docs talks

The inaugural Google Season of Docs program ran from March through to November 2019, to bring open source projects and technical writers together. 

season-of-docs tech-writing

I love collaborative writing. I think it is sometimes the best way to achieve excellence in a piece of written work.

writing collaboration

How much problem solving do you do in your role as a tech writer? I used to do quite a lot. The company I was working at had a start-up mentality and culture. New ideas were encouraged and we usually...

tech-writing content-design

Let’s face it: DITA is hard work. There is a steep learning curve and once you get it, you feel like you deserve an “I’ve climbed Everest” t-shirt.

tech-writing dita open-source tools

The craft of crochet is fundamentally the same, but the stitch names are different in the UK  and the US. The same stitches have different names. A single crochet (sc) in America is a double crochet (dc) in England. You...

writing editing i18n

English is a living language.

writing i18n editing

Some time ago I applied for a tech writing job and part of the application process required me to fill out some questions online. They were standard scenario questions like “Describe a time you had to handle multiple conflicting priorities” but one...

job-hunting

I stumbled across a great 404 page the other day over at GitHub. I’m a Star Wars fan so this really tickled me. It’s got the parallax affect too. Kinda cool.

content-design content-strategy

Ever had to write a fortune?

writing

I have only ever documented software.

tech-writing

Being able to reclaim work is very important as a writer and a crafter.

tools version-control

A cool example of instructions without words:

tech-writing