Getting My Financial Books in Order

by Roxanne Eszes, Quill Contributor

In November 1992 (OMG, that's TWELVE years ago!), I abandoned my job as an employed consulting engineer to become a freelance technical writer. At that time, most of the people I knew were skeptical—they thought that unless you were a journalist or novelist, writing was a hobby, not a career. Then they conceded that they had experienced many frustrating software manuals or laughable instruction booklets, and they agreed that maybe there was something to this technical writing thing after all.

But then I puzzled them even more by saying that I didn't want to do software or hardware manuals—I wanted to write science and engineering stuff! Maybe even textbooks!

The Reason for My Focus

In my career as a consulting engineer, I routinely wrote proposals and environmental assessment reports that numbered in the hundreds of pages and, unlike my colleagues, I loved doing it. Compiling the input from multiple sources, and often doing my own research, I could put together a stellar report that even non-engineers found easy to read.

I thought that it would be easy to market my services to other engineers. After all, everybody knows that engineers (other than me) can't write, right? Well, it turned out that most engineers wouldn't concede that they couldn't put a paragraph together, and those few that did admit that their writing could use help weren't willing to pay for it.

So I struggled along for a few years, getting odd jobs here and there, but my business certainly wasn't all I had imagined it to be. Then, good old networking paid off. An acquaintance of an acquaintance knew somebody who needed help writing an introductory financial planning textbook, and I was able to arrange a meeting. After all, I could balance my cheque book, how hard could it be?

The Stuff of Dreams

Initially, the fact that I didn't have a background in financial planning or accounting was of some concern, but frankly the client had been unable to find somebody with experience who could also write. So, I was given a banker's box full of resource materials, a 3-page extract from a 20-page curriculum document that specified the educational objectives, and a contract to produce a 75-page chapter on personal use assets (cars, homes, cottages, etc.).

I was in heaven. Dredging through a box full of material, drawing out the relevant bits and presenting them in a coherent, reasonable fashion was my idea of a good time. And the reviewers loved it; they acknowledged that my previous lack of experience with the subject matter meant that I was coming from the same place as the students. I assumed that they didn't know anything, and built the material up accordingly.

The Rest is History

I went on to write some 6,000 pages of educational materials related to financial planning, including textbooks on money management, personal income tax, retirement planning, estate planning, investment planning, risk management and insurance. From there I went on to create study aids for candidates attempting the national certified financial planner (CFP) exam, workshops on exam writing techniques, and continuing education pieces for people who have their CFP designation.

The Lessons Learned

Along the way, I've learned a thing or two about writing:

• You can never provide too many examples. Theory is great, but most students learn from seeing that theory applied to a real-life situation, especially if numbers are involved!
• Start off each chapter or module by stating the learning objectives—and then make sure that the material meets them!
• Build a glossary as you go along. If you can explain your concept in a concise stand-alone glossary entry, chances are your material will make more sense, and your document will be more consistent throughout.

The Paper vs. Online Debate

Over the past few years, there has been a great push to move all training materials online, and there are some valid reasons for doing so. For distance education, it can significantly reduce print production and shipping costs, and it makes updating content more efficient. However, in my experience, many online education developers get too caught up in the latest and greatest gizmo and forget about good content. Having interactive graphs and other illustrations can be informative and can break up some otherwise dull material, BUT they can be used to excess. Good content is still king, at least in my book!

Contact Information

Roxanne Eszes, P.Eng., CFP
Cleartech Documentation and Training
Guelph, ON
(519) 767-0295

About Roxanne Eszes

Roxanne is a freelance technical writer, editor and trainer, servicing the financial, environmental and engineering sectors. She operates under the business name of Cleartech Documentation and Training from her home office in Guelph, Ontario.