improve my writing skills

I have the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical people. Folks outside of the IT group at work really appreciate it and I appreciate being appreciated =)

Some recent samples of my e-mail snippets that have received comments specifically on the understandability:

There was more data added to the screen when you click the button. It has to run around all over the database to grab stuff to show you, so that’s why you’re seeing such a huge slow-down from the previous release. We’re going to try to make it more efficient… maybe make it run around to less places, maybe do something faster… we’re on it. =)

And this one shocked even me. It just came flowing out like stagey Shakespeare trash:

I found the problem. It’s just one little setting in the database, but it’s so deeply entrenched within the bowels of yon database, ne’er to be extracted for love or for money.

What’s weird is, I thought that was a line from some book or play. But I googled it and found that the exact phrase doesn’t return anything, so I guess it’s mine =)

I’ve become the author of The IT Group “Project Blog™” at work.

For one release, last year, I drew the daily statistics in a chart on a large piece of paper that was taped up onto the wall. It was decided that we should start this up again because it was a useful thing to have since we have several projects running concurrently.

Only, we ran out of paper… and we ran out of wall. Every flat surface, aside from the ceiling, now has project literature all over it. And, yes, all of it is labelled “do not erase”.

I started posting a screen capture of the charts the daily stats from Excel and stick it on the department intranet web space. It’s easily updated, easily accessible. I update the numbers every morning and send out the link.

Then one day, I decided to explain something on the chart… it was either a spike or dip in the numbers that I thought could use accompanying text.

It’s become an quasi-daily update on how the projects are going. I’ve been trying to inject a bit of humour on it because that really is my philosophy on work – see the positive side, make fun of the frustrations, find a way to laugh. I tell it like it is… and I tell it like it isn’t, for humourous effect—hey, Dave Barry is my hero. =)

I’m not a journalist (as in mass media, journalism, “journalist”). I associate journalism with manipulativeness, full of logical fallacies, a lying by omissions type of deceitfulness that aims to mislead for intended purposes.

But apparently, people are… um, actually reading it now. And by “people”, I mean Senior Management. So, as much as I hate politicking and calculatedness, I’m pinning up my hair, as it were.

Background: I work in the IT Department of an international finance company that has an enterprise solution platform for its customers. I am one of a team of internal technical staff. This enterprise solution platform is available internationally in French and Italian for the Canadian and European market as well as English for North America.

I have taken the internationalization and localization of the system under my wing.

Every time new features of the system are developed, if there are Customer-Facing interfaces, the text has to be translated into French and Italian as well.

I say it so often that it’s been joked that I should add it to my corporate signature file so that it gets sent out with every single e-mail. I started off just typing it in each time, but not wanting to sound like a broken record, I started getting silly with it… people don’t read that far down into e-mail anyway. The last one I wrote was:

... and hark! Unto the French and Italian cipher shall the writ herein be transmogrified. So, mote it be.

Not that writing crazy stuff will actually improve my writing skills, but it’s fun nonetheless… it’s like a little reward for the people who diligently read my e-mail to the end. =)

I’ll have to think of other interesting and funny things to do with it. XD

Thursday, during the day, I get called in to the Big Boss’ office to help him write his nomination essay for his Assistant. He’s entering her in one of those “Best Of” contests and he wanted something dynamite…

I joked that we could do something like a movie trailer to stand out in the sea of “blah blah blah very responsible blah blah organized blah blah blah”.

I spent all night last night digging up movie trailers for inspiration material. I swear, I saw one a long time ago that was brilliant, but I don’t remember how it was done now. =P

I wrote about nearly failing English every year from Grade 9 – 11 a while back. It’s not that I can’t write. I just can’t write if it’s not, more or less, “on my own terms”. I can’t do Creative Writing. Without it being homework, for a class or something, it feels like a dead end even before I begin. It’s like Instant Writer’s Block for me.

I’m better at anecdotal, memoir, commentary and technical writing. I like answering thought-provoking meme questions.