Me: What was the most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?
Christine: The most interesting project I worked on was for a big company starting up their own call centres. I was on the team creating their policy and procedure documents from scratch. We worked in a huge, multidisciplinary team. I got to do user testing and work with people developing the procedures and the software functionality, the instructional designers, and finally with the call centre managers and representatives.
Me: If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first started in the field, what advice would you give yourself?
Christine: I would tell myself not to stress out so much about the software packages I did or didn’t know. Software comes and goes and, as long as you’re willing to work on it, you can learn pretty much any software package. The important thing is to understand your user and the basic principles of technical writing.
Me: What has kept you working in the field?
Christine: Variety. I think I’m easily bored and, if I’m just doing the same thing over and over, I tend to get restless for change. Working on so many different projects in different fields and on different teams, I’m constantly learning something new. I love that. I also love the way writing documentation is sometimes like putting together a puzzle, and figuring out which pieces you’re missing.
Me: If you could stand on a rooftop with a megaphone and tell the world one thing about the field, what would you say?
Christine: Good technical writing makes a difference —to your business and to your life!
Me: What do you like most about being an STC CWC member?
Christine: I like the connections with other technical writers. It’s a great group of people, who are always willing to share their experience, advice, and even a job lead or two. Being a writer can be too much sitting alone in front of your computer, if you’re not careful. STC is a great way to find out about education opportunities and have access to answers for your career questions too.
Me: What do you like to do outside of your career?
Christine: I write – fiction and creative nonfiction. I do some adventure travel, like walking the Camino in Spain in 2010. I love to take pictures and I go hiking, biking, and snowshoeing. Right now I’m training in hopes of becoming a member of my local GSAR group. That’s Ground Search and Rescue, by the way. What technical writer doesn’t love a good acronym?
Me: Favorite quote?
Christine: “Is anyone going to die over this?” One of my managers always said that when people were getting stressed out over something. It was a good way of putting things into perspective and reminding yourself not to sweat the small stuff.
