iScribe - An Introduction

Welcome to iScribe! Domain-specific writing has always been my favourite subject and that is one of the reasons this blog exists. A lot of technical writers are still grappling with domain-specific writing as they change jobs or as they are expected to serve different verticals. However, some ideas which always floated in mind when I read ‘Domain Specific Technical Writing’ are penned below.

Domain-Specific Writing - both the views

‘Several Domains’ Camp: A majority of writers love to write across domains. A classic example of one such writer is Janani Gopalkrishnan. Some of her work can be found here. Writers in this camp often find themselves researching constantly for newer concepts, methodologies and principles. The experience of learning from scratch seldom fails to give a high. Besides, writing across domains is always on the top of the list of reasons for seeking newer challenges with each project.

‘Single Domain’ Camp: Writers in this camp have more or less made a niche for themselves in their respective domains. Such writers eliminate the need of subject matter experts to a great extent and are seasoned to manage documents such that delivery time reduces considerably. Not only do they exhibit confidence in managing the project more effectively but also end up providing value additions to the deliverable with ease.

iScribe’s Objective

The objective of this blog is to spread awareness about this highly specialized field of Information Security Documentation and guide technical experts to create crisp, useful documentation. The blog also aims to motivate technical writers in other domains to follow suit and write more about their chosen domain.

iScribe’s Audience

Like any other domain, Information Security has its standard set of documents like the proposals, reports, guides, online help files and white papers. Then why this blog? The second reason for starting this blog is to benefit people in the domain - security analysts, information security officers, security advisors, etc. to be able to manage their documentation more effectively and address the unique documentation requirements of audits, penetration tests, compliance exercises, digital forensics investigations, etc. The blog is also for technical writers working for information security companies or who are interested in Information Security.

iScribe’s Showcase

The blog will attempt to cover a range of topics from how to write vulnerability assessment reports to discussing security options of popular publishing software. A brief list of topics you will read on soon, are:

• Writing Vulnerability Assessment Reports
• Writing for Executive Managment
• Converting your reports to Powerpoints
• Security Advisories and XML
• XML Security
• Security Tips for Using MS Office

and much more. iScribe will constantly post on effective technical communication in Information Security. Keep watching this space for more on InfoSec Documentation.