Technical Writing

My primary focus in my degree was technical writing. Throughout the program, I created well-written tutorials, help systems, social media proposals, and more. Using skills I acquired during my master's program, I am able to create technical materials that serve their purpose and look good, increasing usability. Full documents can be seen by clicking on the images or the link within the text.

Wix.com Portfolio Help System

The Wix Help System was created for Writing Software Design and designed to help a novice website designer create a portfolio that is viable for usage as a professional demonstration of the writer’s skills and accomplishments. Ross Bradley, Lindsey Manning, and I aimed to create a help system that, while not quite comprehensive, would allow a help system user to create a good portfolio for their purposes using the Wix system.

My main tasks were as follows:

Initial RoboHelp set-up: I quickly fell in love with the RoboHelp system and my team was happy to let me take over the initial stages of set-up in RoboHelp. This included making pages and topics, dividing the topics into respective folders, and making sure each piece had the appropriate text.
Content creation: Each member of our team contributed to writing original content for the help system. Much of it was pulled from our tutorials earlier in the semester. I did quite a bit of the work of taking the steps and putting them into the help system, editing them from the specificity used in the tutorial (from make your portfolio into this specific thing to here’s how to do this task in general), and making sure we had steps for each area. I remember specifically writing the sections on adding social media and adding documents to the page. Other pieces throughout the system were pulled from my tutorial, but not all content.
Basic visual editing: I did the initial color design for headings, although the layout was somewhat changed by the end of the process after receiving feedback on the tutorials.
Copy editing: I took home a printed copy of the help system and went through it looking for errors in consistency, needed punctuation, and general editing. I then came back to class and corrected the issues found. Also included checking topics and their respective URLs for correct spelling.
Inserting screenshots: Ross and I both inserted screenshots into the system where they were appropriate, as well as making sure they sat appropriately on the page.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Graduate School Facebook Proposal and Insights

This social media proposal was developed in Writing for Social Media at Work and created for the UA-Little Rock Graduate School to increase their social media presence and engagement on Facebook in particular. The UA-Little Rock Graduate School serves as a central administrative unit for all graduate programs offered at UALR. It serves to advocate for the wide variety of programs offered across the colleges at UA-Little Rock and is a central authority for all parts of the graduate school process from application to graduation. The Graduate School serves students who have just come out of their undergraduate programs all the way to those who have been out of school for years, age 21 (roughly) to senior citizens, both domestic and international students. The Facebook page aims to inform and amuse followers, and market the Graduate School, showing off events hosted by the Graduate School, Graduate Student Association, and UA-Little Rock, as well things done by current and former graduate students.

I researched other graduate school Facebook pages as well as social media strategies to create this proposal, as well as looking for good materials to post to the page. Over time, I have continued to post to the Facebook page (usually at least 2 posts a day Monday through Friday). The proposal, and what I learned creating it, has increased the Graduate School’s social media traffic and engagement. The page has between 850-900 followers, up from 800 or so when I began, and some posts can get upwards of 1000 views. All views are entirely organic, as I don't have authorization to boost posts or run ads, and this growth has occurred over the course of the past year.

Gibson Foundation Grant Application for Victor Wooten's Center for Music and Nature

This grant application was submitted to the Gibson Foundation on behalf of Victor Wooten's Center for Music and Nature as a part of the Grant Writing class. As of April 2017, the grant is still under consideration for funding. In the creation of this application, I assisted with research of grant foundations and did most of the word-smithing for the request letter and application, as well as editing the application materials. I was the only writing major in our group, so it was logical for these tasks to fall to me.

Over the course of developing this application, I gained skills in grant research (using the Foundation Center), being succinct and clear for grant applications, creating a story to entice grant funders to the cause, and overall editing skills.

In addition to this grant, I wrote a grant for the Crossland Zoo in Crossett, Arkansas, gaining them $3000 for an amphitheater remodel from Weyerhauser.

Graduate Student Association Fliers

These fliers were made for the Graduate Student Association (GSA) at UA Little Rock. The GSA hosted thesis and dissertation formatting workshops to help graduate students with formatting difficulties and, in the spring and fall, offered travel grants to graduate students who were presenting their research and creative works at conferences. These fliers were created using Canva, both with templates and without, to promote these events, which I organized. The fliers were distributed through email, Facebook, and with paper copies across campus. Created using the skills I’ve gained during my time in my M.A. program, they catch the eye and provide relevant information in a readable format.