My role as a Toronto technical writer is to help your documentation project succeed – by creating customized, user-focused documentation that replaces vendor techno-speak, softens the shock of the new, and provides effective ongoing help for users when they need it.
My clients include banks, law firms, technology companies, educational institutions, architecture firms, engineering firms, and government ministries. I’m comfortable working with everyone in an organization, from clerical staff to the corporate suite.
I’m a senior Toronto technical writer, editor and instructor, with more than 20 years experience creating a wide range of print, online and video documentation and training materials. I work with the standard tools required to produce effective documentation, including Word, Madcap Flare, Robohelp, Framemaker, SharePoint, and others. If I need to learn a tool, I do so quickly and efficiently because it’s part of the job.
You can reach me at 604-230-0697 or stephenjohngauer@gmail.com.
My Toronto technical writer skills
Technical writing + editing
Software training + instructional design
Writing skills workshops + presentations
Graphic design + typography
Project management
My Toronto technical writer clients
Architecture and Engineering: IBI Group
Education: Vancouver Community College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, George Brown College, Humber College, SFU, UBC
Emergency Response: Western Canada Marine Rescue Corp.
Financial: Scotiabank, CIBC
Legal: Harper Grey LLP
Retail: lululemon
Software: Exan Group, Avocette Technologies, Maximizer, VC Labs
Technology: 360Networks, Greenlight Innovation
Transportation: Teekay Shipping
Utilities: BC Hydro
My Toronto technical writer tools
Madcap Flare, Robohelp
Microsoft Office
SharePoint
HTML + XML
JIRA
Confluence
WordPress
Academic
Bachelor of Arts (major in Communications), Simon Fraser University, 2001
Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing, University of British Columbia, 2005
Toronto technical writer – Hourly rate
My rate varies from $70 to $80/hour depending on the length and type of the project.
My approach to documentation
When you hire me, I begin by listening, observing and learning. I ask a lot of questions because I need to learn your culture, your priorities and what makes you unique. Then I begin to share my technical writing experience and expertise.
Often the most challenging part of any documentation project is the human dimension. As a documentation team, do we have a good understanding of our audience? Are we imposing a technical agenda on a non-technical audience? These are important questions.
Choosing the right tool for the job is critical. Sometimes the most sophisticated and complex tool is a good choice, but often something simpler will do.
I will fight hard for plain language when you hire me. I believe very passionately that simplicity, brevity and clarity should be the hallmarks of all writing, whether technical or non-technical.
I’ve done a lot of training and teaching in my 25 years in the IT world. This has taught me a few things about end users and why they view IT communication with a certain degree of skepticism. A good technical writer understands the audience; a great technical writer has empathy as well.
Society for Technical Communication
I’m a past president of the Canada West Coast chapter of the STC (Society for Technical Communication), with members throughout the lower mainland and Vancouver Island. The STC is the world’s leading and largest organization dedicated to advancing technical communication and improving the skills of its members. Check out the STC CWC website.
My teaching career
In a parallel career to my work as a Vancouver technical writer, I’ve taught academic, business and technical writing at several post-secondary institutions, including the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Greater Vancouver, and at Guelph University/Humber College and George Brown College in Toronto.
I enjoy teaching because it’s a chance to share my passion and enthusiasm for writing. And of course I learn a lot from the students. At George Brown I taught College English to students of all ages and all nationalities and all professions. I met accountants from Russia, software developers from Korea, marketing managers from Brazil and shy high school graduates from suburban Toronto. That was one of the best and most rewarding teaching experiences in my life.
Creative writing
I sold my first piece of professional writing to the Globe and Mail back in 1975, when I was 23. That launched my newspaper reporting career, including stops in Thompson (Manitoba), Barrie (Ontario), Ottawa and Toronto. I wrote a play in the mid 1980s that was produced in a small summer theatre, but then dropped out of creative writing for almost 20 years.
On a whim, I took a non-fiction writing course with instructor Stephen Osborne at SFU in 2001, when I was doing my undergrad degree in communications, and that brought me back into the writing world.
After finishing my SFU degree, I went on to do an MFA in Creative Writing at UBC in 2005, and published my thesis novel, Hold Me Now, based very loosely on the Aaron Webster murder in Vancouver, in 2011. I’ve also published short stories in various literary magazines as well as newspaper features, mostly in the Globe and Mail.