papyros designs
Writing Services

from the Ancient Greek παπυροσ /'pə-pE-"ros/

 "Updating a manual is like changing tires on a moving car." — Edmond Weiss

Editing   |   Formatting   |   Designing   |   Writing   |   hconsta@papyrosdesigns.com

Time to Explain?

Parsing the phrase 'technical writing' reveals two main aspects of the field. The subject of this type of writing is a technical process or product. Correspondingly, the activity is the craft of writing for the specific purpose of explaining a process or product.

For example, technical writers produce user manuals that explain how to operate a product as well as internal documents that specify how a product should function.

Writing Services

If you need assistance explaining your process or product, I can help you produce the documentation you need. I have degrees and work experience in both engineering and technical communication, which give me a unique perspective on technical writing.

As an engineer, I wrote internal requirements and specifications for software programs. As a technical writer, I've produced multiple user manuals and customer support procedures. In addition, I wrote journal articles and research reports while in graduate school.

Contact me for a free consultation. We can discuss your writing needs as well as rates and turnaround time.

Document Types

The table below lists the types of documents I've written, categorized as user, technical, or academic.

User Documents

 

User Manual

User Procedure

Description of what a product does, written for users

Description of how to do a specific task, written for users

Technical Documents

 

Requirements

Design Specifications

Internal Procedure

Description of what the software must do and what qualities it must have

Description of how a specific design will meet a set of requirements

Description of how to do a specific task, written for internal use

Academic Texts

 

Research Report

Refereed Article

Conference Proceedings

Report summarizing research project or grant

Original idea or research published in a refereed journal

Paper published in proceedings of a conference

Rates

I base my rates for technical writing on those set by the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). All rates are negotiable.

File Format

I use Microsoft Word for word processing and can provide any of the following file formats:

  • Microsoft Word 2003/2007 [.doc]
  • Microsoft Word 2010 [.docx]
  • Rich Text File [.rtf]

User Documents

[Confidential information has been redacted.]

| User Manuals

OhioTAS Accounting Reference Guide

OhioTAS Payroll Reference Guide

OhioTAS Security Reference Guide

OhioTAS User's Guide

911-App Operator Manual

911-App User Manual

| User Procedures

OhioTAS user procedures

Papyros Designs user procedures

Technical Documents

[Confidential information has been redacted.]

| Requirements

Requirements for new version of conversion software

3D graphics requirements for space station robotic software

3D graphics requirements for space shuttle robotic software

| Design Specifications

Functional specifications for new version of 911 software

Standards for 911 software documentation

3D graphics specifications for space shuttle robotic software

| Internal Procedures

Procedures for converting tests to online testing application

Procedures for producing TCQ journal

Procedures for 911 software documentation

Procedures for administrating network of 3D computers

Academic Texts

| Research Reports

Constantinides, H. (1998). Organizational pragmatics: Power in workplace communication (Master's thesis). LSU, Baton Rouge, LA.

Constantinides, H. (2005). A pragmatics of power using Jürgen Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action (Doctoral dissertation). UMN, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN.

Constantinides, H., & Swenson, J. (2001). Credibility and medical websites (Algenix, Inc., grant). Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN: UMN, The Internet Center.

Gurak, L., Jones, L., Constantinides, H., Winn, W., & Briggs, L. (2002). The effectiveness of child advocacy websites (Packard Foundation grant). Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN: UMN, The Internet Center.

Academic Texts (cont'd)

| Refereed Articles

Constantinides, H. (1998). "Jürgen Habermas: 'What is universal pragmatics?'" IEEETPC, 41(2), 143–45.

Constantinides, H. (2001). "The duality of scientific ethos: Deep and surface structures." QJS, 87(1), 61–72.

Constantinides, H., & Garay, M. S. (1998). "Forging new partnerships: Exemplary business/school coalitions." In M. S. Garay & S. A. Bernhardt (Eds.), Expanding literacies: English teaching and the new workplace (pp. 359-70). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Constantinides, H, St. Amant, K., & Kampf, C. (2001). "Organizational and intercultural communication: An annotated bibliography." TCQ, 10, 31–58.

Swenson, J., Constantinides, H., & Gurak, L. (2002). "Audience-driven web design: An application to medical web sites." TC, 49(3), 340–52.

| Conference Proceedings

Constantinides, H. (2000). Practical reasoning in organizations: Perelman's universal and particular audiences. In T. A. Hollihan (Ed.), Argument at century's end: Reflecting on the past and envisioning the future: Selected papers from the Eleventh NCA/AFA Conference on Argumentation, Utah, July 1999 (pp. 50–56).

Constantinides, H. (2003). The incommensurability of 'Faster, Better, Cheaper': NASA's rhetorical bind. In IPCC 2003: The Shape of Knowledge Proceedings, Orlando, FL, Sept. 21–24, 2003 (pp. 258–66).

Mikelonis, V., & Constantinides, H. (2005). Editorial Smarts: Contextual and single sentence editing tools. In IPCC 2005: Ceangail (Making Connections), Limerick, Ireland, July 10–13, 2005.

Mikelonis, V., Constantinides, H., & Hill, J. (2004). Technology-enhanced workshop on grammar and punctuation. IPCC 2004 Best Paper Award. In IPCC 2004: Communication Frontiers Proceedings, Minneapolis, MN, Sept. 29–Oct. 2, 2004 (pp. 183–88).