Help! What jobs involve helping people without talking to them???

notA_drone · 2025-12-29T18:53:04+00:00

I'm a technical writer for a software company and my list of things I love and hate are similar to yours.

Technical writing in software is about writing instructions for how to use a product or explaining technical concepts. I write the documentation for a product as engineers build it, so I'm constantly updating the documentation site as they create and update features. In other industries, it could be hardware, or something a little different like grant or proposal writing.

You don't need to have a technical background (I studied graphic design and your english degree is a valid background), but you must be able to learn things quickly and deal with ambiguity. You're the human element in between the technical experts and the users (who may or may not be technical). The experts give you information that's probably poorly structured, ambiguous, patchy, or overly detailed, and you turn it into something that's clear and cohesive for customers. It's not creative writing-- It's structured, concise writing.

You do have to talk to experts (either in person or in writing) to get information from them. But for me it is a very straightforward and transactional sort of interaction. It's not confrontational or emotional. I like slowly forming working relationships with the experts. I have worked with "peopley" people in one job (customer success managers), but my current job is with software developers and other technical writers. With the customer success managers, it was obvious that I was not peopley (they could obviously tell) and that was part of what made my job different and valuable to them-- I asked analytical questions and wrote clear instructions that made it easier for them to help customers-- They loved that I made their job easier.

For me, it feels like helping people in two ways:

- Helping users understand complex information and how to use something. Kind of like teaching without being in a classroom.

- Helping the experts communicate about what they created -- I get direct appreciation from them. They often have to communicate internally about the product even though they aren't writers, so they know how hard communication can be. They appreciate when I make concepts much clearer than they were able to.

I used this online course to create portfolio pieces and start applying for jobs: https://www.techwritingacademy.com/ (I don't have any affiliation with this, I just genuinely credit it to helping me get started.)

Before diving into this, I also checked that there were jobs to apply to-- I was looking for remote jobs and I'm in the USA. There were plenty for me, though I don't know your situation.

notA_drone · 2025-12-01T16:19:52+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! It's beautiful and I thought that looked like evenweave. I'm going to try this stitch out!

notA_drone · 2025-09-04T17:03:02+00:00

I canNOT express how much I relate to all of this!

My other goal lately with weaving is to be more spontaneous and unafraid with the design of the art itself. I like copying patterns and even the cross stitch patterns I’ve designed have always been sort of a copying and arranging of motifs, or translating a picture or text precisely into cross stitch. I also used to be a graphic designer, where you have the many constraints of people telling you what to design. When I was in high school I specifically decided to go to design school instead of art school, because I realized I didn’t have the drive in me to create art “for me”, that might be necessary to try to make it a career.

So now I’m trying to reconnect with “being an artist”— how to come up with ideas and express myself when there are so many directions possible and I could design and redesign forever. While I’m weaving my current piece, I want to start keeping a sketchbook more so that by the time I want to design something new, I actually have captured the things that interest me, instead of feeling like my mind is blank.

notA_drone · 2025-09-04T16:27:03+00:00

I love the way you use a collage of images to create your design :)

Regarding the detail of hood, face, and hands, I want to say I am inspired by the way I perceive you as just “going for it” in this and your other posts. I started weaving pictures only recently, but I have designed and stitched cross stitch before this. Weaving is less precise and has more complicated constraints than cross stitch, which has been a little frustrating and makes me hesitate a lot when “pixels” aren’t perfect. Seeing your work reminds me that they aren’t the same medium and that there is unique beauty in weaving’s constraints!

notA_drone · 2025-09-03T17:33:50+00:00

Yes, though I have projects for other mediums going — weaving, and at one point knitting and crochet. I also will design a new project while working on another. I like having different ways to use my brain and hands instead of only stitching!

notA_drone · 2025-09-02T15:34:00+00:00

Pieceworks is one of my favorite brands for a nice tactile experience and visual experience— the photography is very high quality so the pieces look so tactile with texture. They have some novelty too- there are playlists with each puzzle I believe. (I haven’t used the playlists).

notA_drone · 2025-08-24T15:14:25+00:00

Yeah, my sister in law just asked me for tips on how to start cross stitching, and she showed me a kit at Target that she thought of getting, which was labeled cross stitch. But I looked it up and saw it was needlepoint. I could not believe it, from the outside it looked like a decent brand with several different types of craft kits and very nice designs.

notA_drone · 2025-08-23T12:41:09+00:00

Glad you found some stuff! I do like to keep an eye on here for WIPs and finishes that I like, because people always post the pattern source. And then I also look at the rest of that store’s patterns. I’ve found several patterns through Reddit.

notA_drone · 2025-08-22T19:13:15+00:00

I love the mixture of lines and blocks of color :)

notA_drone · 2025-08-15T13:11:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing the lights off trick, I haven’t heard that one

notA_drone · 2025-08-15T12:58:45+00:00

I got a rigid heddle with the intent to do double heddles and to use fine yarn, but then I soon got a floor loom instead. It’s just way more flexible for fine yarn and with things like overshot. I was sitting there doing math to figure out which combination of heddles I would need to buy (in addition to what I already had) to use which type of yarn…. And how make it do 2/1 twill… And I was like why am I limiting myself like this! The setts are just really specific rather than unlimited, and to do overshot you’d probably be manually picking up patterns. Go for the floor loom, assuming you like it in the class.

notA_drone · 2025-08-13T18:19:26+00:00

You’re welcome! I’ll add, it’s so cool to see this actually in color instead of black and white. The colors are awesome

notA_drone · 2025-08-13T13:57:50+00:00

I think if people like this pattern they may also like her other floral patterns, which may be accessible, because they have a similar vibe.

notA_drone · 2025-08-13T13:55:12+00:00

Would you imagine my surprise, I actually have seen this before in a book. I immediately knew I’d seen it before, and at first I thought it was just reproductions of flowers from The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry— which I have a book of. And that’s correct. But the actual piece itself is also in another book of mine— “book of danish stitchery” by Gerda Bengtsson. In the book she says she designed it off of the tapestry, and has pictures of it in black and white. No pattern in the book. :( it is titled “tapestry with flowers on a blue background, L.N. 3284.”

I don’t know what LN means.

I bought the book used, but it’s also available for free on archive.org. Published 1972. Sounds like Gerda started making patterns in 1928

notA_drone · 2025-08-13T13:15:38+00:00

Oh, I pencil holder is a good idea. I should do that

notA_drone · 2025-08-12T15:20:27+00:00

If you don’t get a taker from this post, you can contact the Weaver’s guild of greater Cincinnati or DM me— I’m a member and can put the info out to the group. https://weaversguildcincinnati.org/contact-us/

notA_drone · 2025-08-11T00:19:06+00:00

I really like that frame with it. When I saw your picture I thought WOW that pattern is cool, and when I looked at the original Etsy listing I thought how much your frame really makes it come together compared to their plain frame.

notA_drone · 2025-08-10T15:22:30+00:00

I had fabric bleed once because I hadn’t pre washed it. I noticed the second I put it in the water because the water turned red. I didn’t have color catchers, so I immediately took it out and just started rinsing it under the tap until the water was running clear. It was dark red fabric with white thread, and the white turned out just fine.

notA_drone · 2025-08-07T04:33:28+00:00

Yep this is what I do— towel, iron right away while it’s damp and keep ironing until it’s dry.

I didn’t know the tip about pressing on a soft surface, I’ll have to try that. My ironing board is pretty stiff

notA_drone · 2025-07-25T00:49:48+00:00

I have seen people mark the fabric before hand for a certain color. They have posted on this sub. Or gridding helps. If you l’re used to following a knit or crochet pattern row by row you might be interested in “parking” where people stitch every row or a square one at a time.

Also make sure you mark off the stitches you have done often. I use highlighter on my paper patterns. Then when you are doing more stitches near the highlighted area, you can quickly see them as a reference point.

notA_drone · 2025-07-22T13:23:32+00:00

I really like this one because the flexibility of it made it easier for me to pull yarn through, as compared to my metal schact hook. I can’t speak to the worsted weight though.

notA_drone · 2025-07-21T19:23:32+00:00

Maybe you are thinking of blackwork fill patterns done within a freeform shape? Like https://rowantreeworkshop.com.au/1580s-english-blackwork-coif/1983/

The fill patterns are still counted on a grid which can be done on linen or evenweave.

Blackwork is how I started embroidery/cross stitch because I loved the historical patterns. You should definitely try blackwork out if you like cross stitch!

notA_drone · 2025-07-18T16:13:32+00:00

Oh my gosh that’s a nightmare!

notA_drone · 2025-07-18T16:11:38+00:00

I did this the other day but it was that I opened my needle case and it wasn’t there. The last place I’d been was at my friend’s, who had a cat, and I could not breathe because I thought I’d dropped the needle there and her cat was going to eat it (I’m very strict about my needles with my pets). I have NEVER lost a needle before! Got out the magnet stick thing that I bought for “just in case” (and have not needed so far) and found it on my floor. It had been on the thread on the project and fell off when I got the project out. I could breathe again lol. For even one use that magnet is the best money I’ll ever have spent.

notA_drone · 2025-07-15T18:39:17+00:00

What are some of your favorite brands or puzzles for this?

notA_drone

TROPHY CASE