Hello! I’m Brittany Santos. (The M is my middle initial.)
I’m a technical writer and editor. I graduated from Emerson College in Boston, MA in May 2016 with a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing. I earned my Certificate in Technical Writing from the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in November 2021. I am currently based in Cape Cod, MA, where I live with my fiance and my sweet 17-year-old cat, Lily.
I produce quality documentation for a variety of audiences. I write user guides, instructions, reports, API documentation, and more. This portfolio showcases my abilities.
I am proficient with:
- Markup and style sheet languages such as HTML, CSS, XML, and Markdown
- CMS solutions such as WordPress
- Version control tools such as Git and GitHub (this page is hosted on GitHub!)
- Authoring tools such as Oxygen XML and Jekyll (this page is built with Jekyll!)
- Software suites such as:
- Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, Audition)
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Sharepoint, Outlook)
- Google Workspace (Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Gmail, Calendar)
I am always learning new programs and new skills. I currently am taking Udemy courses on DITA, REST API documentation, and Javascript.
My Background
I come from a book publishing background, as many of my courses and extracurricular activities in college were formed around the editorial side of book publishing. After I graduated, I freelanced as a substantive editor and copyeditor for traditional book publishers and indie authors on a variety of manuscripts. (I worked on everything from technical business books to poetry!) In August 2017, I started working at Whole Foods Market and moved up in the ranks as a body care and supplements buyer, but I was still freelancing on the side.
I was introduced to technical writing by a friend of mine who works as a software developer. He complained that his colleagues had no idea how to write good user-facing documentation and often had no time to write good internal documentation. “Why can’t they just hire a technical writer? We have the budget for it,” he asked me.
Given that I’d spent my teenage years building personal websites by hand with nothing more than Notepad and an outdated copy of Photoshop, I was intrigued by the notion of writing about technology for a living. I investigated further and found that I’d effectively already been practicing the basic building blocks of technical writing for years! My family always ran to me when they needed to learn how to do something on their computers, phones, smart TVs, and video game consoles. Even when I was with Whole Foods, I was often the one to go to when someone needed to learn how to make our computers work when our IT guy wasn’t in the house.
With my fiance’s support, I resigned from Whole Foods in January 2021 to make a career change. I earned my Certificate in Technical Writing from the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in November 2021, and I am currently searching for part-time or full-time work.
This portfolio demonstrates my technical writing capabilities. If you like what you see and you want to discuss your work opportunities with me, please contact me using any of my contact links!