About My Writing

Disbelief

“You did not write this,” my Dad said.

He’d just read “What Is Love?,” my first published piece, in Women’s Weekly, the biggest magazine for women in the Philippines.

“I did too!” I was eight years old.

“Did your Mom help?

“A little.” I nodded sheepishly.

“Then you did not write this.”

My first critical review only spurred me to keep writing.

Advanced Tech

I lusted after it as only an 18-year-old boy could: the Exidy Sorcerer, one of the first home computers. Its beautiful cream-colored case housed a whopping 4K of memory, three-voice polyphonic sound, and built-in black-and-white graphics. Interchangeable cartridges added more functions, such as Microsoft BASIC and a word processor. And it could store everything on cassette tape.

We’d moved a few years earlier to Seattle from the Philippines and that computer was the first American thing I ever wanted to own.

The whole setup cost around $1,500, including a dedicated monochrome monitor that measured six inches diagonally and weighed a ton. To afford it, I saved money from two jobs as a clerk at my dad’s import/export business and a paper boy, which had me walking and hand-delivering the Seattle Times door-to-door.

That early microcomputer launched my adventures into programming and technology. It showed me how digital devices worked from the inside out.

What Choice Do I Have?

“The computer classes are still full?” I asked.

“They will be for a while,” said my college counselor, “and you’re starting your junior year, so you can’t keep waiting until a place opens up.”

“What did the aptitude test say?” Earlier that week, I’d filled out an aptitude test that was supposed to tell me what I should be majoring in at the University of Washington.

“The good news is that it said that you should pick a degree that combines both science and art.”

The counselor waved sheets of green-and-white computer paper at me. She’d thoughtfully torn off the edge strips with holes that had bordered the sheets.

“Such as?” I asked.

“The bad news is we don’t have such a degree.”

“That’s not helpful.”

“It says here that you like writing and computers.” She studied the printout again. “We have a program that just started up: Scientific and Technical Communications.”

“What?”

“It’s for writers who like to deal with scientific topics like medicine, engineering, or…”

“Computers?”

“Yes. It’s so new that we don’t have a formal syllabus yet. You’ll have to take some required writing courses in the College of Engineering for the art part. That’ll keep you busy for a few quarters. Then you have to take your choice of technical courses.”

“Like programming and computer science?”

“Yes, but by then some spots should’ve opened up for you.”

“What choice do I have?”

I followed her recommendation and learned how to turn complex technical materials into something that a general user could understand. We were lucky to have word processors that could print on white paper. But we still had to lay out our pages with X-ACTO knives, rulers, graph paper, and paste.

As for the curriculum I came up with, it included heavy doses of computer science. By adding a minor in technical translation, I leveraged my French and German courses. Eventually, I graduated cum laude and accepted a technical writer position at Burroughs (now Unisys) Corporation in Southern California.

We Didn’t Want You to Quit

Six years later …

“Here you go,” I handed a piece of paper to my tech writing manager at Unisys.

“What’s this?” She read my letter in disbelief. “But we didn’t want you to quit! We were hoping that the dead weight would jump at the offer. Not you.”

“You remember that test we all took?”

Unisys compelled everyone to fill out a test to determine our best positions in the company.

“It said I should be a manager,” she said, “which I am.”

“Mine said that I find big companies stifling and restrictive.” I said. “It recommended that I should go out on my own.”

“Well, good luck.” She put my letter in her process file. “But come back and visit, alright? We’ll miss you.”

About two weeks after I quit, I was back at my old desk at Unisys working as a tech writing contractor. So many employees had taken advantage of the lay-off offer that they had to hire contractors to keep up with the work.

I was doing the exact same thing as a captive but with more freedom and more money. I also started picking up contracts with Canon, Toshiba, and some smaller companies. My content writing career started then although it was called “tech writing consulting” or “tech writing contracting.”

From Then to Now

Many things have happened from then until now to boost my ability to write content for you:

• To pay for my college tuition, I worked as a Science Interpreter for the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA. The job polished my public speaking skills and taught me how to demonstrate topics like physics, the Space Shuttle, boa constrictors, and math to the general public. Because my demonstrations took only 10 or 20 minutes, they taught me how to distill complex information into short and easy-to-digest chunks that the audience would enjoy. This knowledge perfectly

• Part-time for Microcenter in Tustin, CA, I taught adults and senior citizens about the Internet, Windows, and other computer software. These classes often took one or more days, so they taught me how to effectively structure and present long-form information.

• I spent 10 years as a company member of Rude Guerilla Theater in Santa Ana, CA. Because it was a small theater, each of us had to put on many hats, which in my case included acting, directing, stage managing, fund-raising, marketing, toilet-cleaning, and playwriting. The theatrical techniques I learned allow me to make dramatic and emotionally compelling content that

• Aside from English, I also speak Filipino and have studied Spanish, German, French, and Italian. I’m currently tackling Japanese. My multi-lingual knowledge grants me insights into world cultures and helps me create content that can easily be localized in many languages.

• My decades of writing have touched on many subjects. But most of my efforts have focused on Tech, Cars, Real Estate, and Travel. If any of these topics cover your writing needs, my experience will make your content shine.

For more information or for help with your writing project, please use my contact details below or click “Email me!” the top right.