Heroic Technical Writing: Making a Difference in the Workplace and Your Life

by Bart Leahy

Are you an aspiring technical writer? Do you want to make a difference in your workplace and your life, pursuing a career you love? If so, Heroic Technical Making a Difference in the Workplace and Your Life was written for you. “The original audience for this book was 22-year-old me,” Leahy admits. “I didn’t know a lot about how the business world worked fresh out of college. It contains all the advice I wish I’d gotten when I was young and looking for a writing job. This is stuff they don’t teach you in the classroom.” Addressed to students and young professionals interested in pursuing a career in technical communication, Heroic Technical Writing covers six major 1. Product – the documents tech writers produce 2. Process – the business activities related to producing documents 3. People and Politics – the interpersonal opportunities and challenges that can arise in a tech writing environment 4. Professionalism – the behaviors necessary for getting along in a white-collar work environment 5. Pursuing Work – the tools and insights needed to find tech writing jobs 6. Protecting Yourself – the necessary skills no one talks about, including taking care of your physical and mental health, investing for the future, and retiring Mid-career tech writers also will appreciate the book, as it addresses familiar professional challenges, including dealing with difficult people, handling unemployment mid-career, starting a freelance business, and planning for retirement. Leahy depicts the real work world as he’s experienced it—warts and all. Why Heroic Technical Writing? “Heroic has two meanings for me,” Leahy says. “As a ‘heroic’ writer, I want to provide prose that helps my customers’ ideas succeed. As a heroic-minded person, I want to believe that my choices matter, and that those choices can make my goals a reality. I’d like my readers to have that same confidence.”

333 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 31, 2020

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are readers for whom this book deserves to be pored over in intimate detail. There are few readers for whom this book is not worth keeping as a handy reference.

From the title, one might be inclined to assume that this is a book about technical writing for people who want to be technical writers. And, yeah, sure, it is that. If that's what you're looking for, buy it. There's great information here about the craft of technical writing, and even how one might gain work engaged in that craft.

But in addition to being a technical writers' guide to technical writing, it also doubles in a pinch as a normal people's guide to technical (and other) writing, and a technical writers' guide to normal people. (I mean, you *could* use it as a normal people's guide to normal people, and it's probably worth at least a skim if that's what you're looking for.)

Leahy here talks not only about the how-to aspects of actual technical writing, but provides handy tips that anyone can use on things like how to write business correspondence. He also delves into the wetware aspects of technical writing – dealing with bosses or customers in a way that increases your chances of being a *successful* technical writer, for example. Sure, there's an obligatory long list of tools needed for technical writing, but there's also exploration of philosophy and science fiction and science fiction philosophy.

An engaging and informative read, Bart Leahy's Heroic Technical Writing is not only one great resource, it's a handful of pretty good ones.

[Cecelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A+ content that is immediately applicable to the job as a new technical writer. 4.5 stars.

I have a physical copy, sent to me by Bart via a common friend, and that's where my one complaint with this book comes from--the printed formatting is atrocious and distracts the reader from the content.
I'm hoping this book gets a second edition, both to correct the inconsistency of text color and to add the latest material from Bart's blog!

[Karla Kitalong · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I was reading Heroic Technical Writing, I kept thinking that I wish it had been available when I was teaching both the intro course for the technical communication majors and the senior capstone course. I used Bart's blog, heroictechwriting.com, as my textbook, but in the book, Bart has added the essential connective tissue from which a textbook benefits. In short, the book has a beginning, a middle, and an end. I would assign it in both the intro and capstone courses because it would mean something different to beginning students than to those launching a career.

Bart's practical advice is delivered in a conversational style, peppered (or maybe salted is a better metaphor) with his geeky sense of humor and replete with stories of successes as well as recoveries from failure. He stresses the need for lifelong learning--you never finish becoming an expert writer. He also reminds us that our knowledge translates from one doman to the next, and that it's good to try new things, even if we don't quite know how to do them. He tells stories to illustrate his points. The book can be read cover to cover (as I read it) or you can dip into at random for his advice on whatever genre you're writing or workplace challenge you're facing.

Disclaimer: I've known Bart for a good many years--probably 20 already. We started out as teacher and student and became friends over the years. I have a lot to learn from him, and so do you, whether you're a student, tech writer wannabe, or gainfully employed professional communicator.

[Aman Mittal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The focus of this book is on the Author's professional career and learning while working at different US government agencies such as NASA. However, at the same time, this book also provides insights into what a technical writer's career can look like. It also went into depth about the process by providing how-to-aspects. Leahy also goes into depth about writing for a business correspondence and how to tackle advertisites brought up by office politics.

I wish I had been aware of this book earlier, perhaps right at the beginning of my technical writing career. If I had known about it, it would have offered me the valuable perspective that I lacked when I first started maintaining technical documentation for a SaaS company. Having access to the insights and knowledge from this book from the outset would have undoubtedly improved my confidence and effectiveness in communicating technical information. It would have helped me navigate the intricacies of the role with greater ease and proficiency, enabling me to be more impactful in my role.