I’m Roger. I’m an American living in Germany. I worked in the software industry as a Technical Writer and Editor for ten years helping German companies describe their products in English. A few years ago, I struck out on my own as an independent consultant.
I write in English–I could write in German but I don’t–others do that better. I speak German every day. After hearing me speak, many are puzzled to learn I’m not German. My English is better. When I write in German I make more annoying little mistakes. I hate little mistakes. Big ones are much more dignified.
I write about software. User manuals, online help, release notes, the works. People pay me to write. They pay me to organize their thoughts–scary idea, that! They pay me to describe their software in a way that makes it sound as though all the little design shortcomings inherent to the application are really a good idea. They pay me to help their users understand their product. So they’ll buy it. Again. And Again.
I plan ahead. If you call me today and ask me to start on your project next week, I may laugh. I’m usually booked a few months in advance. Sometimes a year. Project plans are a good thing. If you don’t have one, I may not want to work for you. I make exceptions, but I need a good reason and a strong sweetener.
My clients like my work. They keep asking me to do more. That’s why I plan ahead.
I prefer structured authoring environments to unstructured. I’m a version control evangelist and a consistency nut. I hate editing the same text manually in five different documents. That’s not efficient. It’s boring and it costs you more. If you want me to edit six different Word files that share 80% of the content, I may not be your man.
If you want to stop doing that, we should talk about how I can help you.
About the Author
I’m Roger. I’m an American living in Germany. I worked in the software industry as a Technical Writer and Editor for ten years helping German companies describe their products in English. A few years ago, I struck out on my own as an independent consultant.
I write in English–I could write in German but I don’t–others do that better. I speak German every day. After hearing me speak, many are puzzled to learn I’m not German. My English is better. When I write in German I make more annoying little mistakes. I hate little mistakes. Big ones are much more dignified.
I write about software. User manuals, online help, release notes, the works. People pay me to write. They pay me to organize their thoughts–scary idea, that! They pay me to describe their software in a way that makes it sound as though all the little design shortcomings inherent to the application are really a good idea. They pay me to help their users understand their product. So they’ll buy it. Again. And Again.
I plan ahead. If you call me today and ask me to start on your project next week, I may laugh. I’m usually booked a few months in advance. Sometimes a year. Project plans are a good thing. If you don’t have one, I may not want to work for you. I make exceptions, but I need a good reason and a strong sweetener.
My clients like my work. They keep asking me to do more. That’s why I plan ahead.
I prefer structured authoring environments to unstructured. I’m a version control evangelist and a consistency nut. I hate editing the same text manually in five different documents. That’s not efficient. It’s boring and it costs you more. If you want me to edit six different Word files that share 80% of the content, I may not be your man.
If you want to stop doing that, we should talk about how I can help you.