User:Johntechwriter

I’m a retired technical writer living in the Oakland Hills on the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Along with writing numerous user guides and online help systems, I've edited three technology magazines and one motorcycle magazine. I’ve written articles and reviews mostly for technology magazines but also for motorcycle and bicycle magazines.

My love of the English language began in childhood, when I discovered the wonders of my parents' excellent library. By age 12 I was reading Tolstoy and Proust. I didn’t understand all of it but I got into the rhythm of fine writing and have appreciated it ever since.

At university I switched my major from English Lit to Communication because I realized the novel was fading as a medium and that video, and later web-based multimedia, were taking over. As an expository writer I had to stay with the times. I could not afford the luxury of an audience of one.

While literature will always for me be the apotheosis of the written word, with the advent of streaming media I, like many others, have turned to video an my primary medium for entertainment, enlightenment, and learning. In the best movies and documentaries I come across writing that deserves to be recognized, and that is why I have joined this forum.