How to apply for the Google Season of Docs program ( https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs ) as a technical writer: a tweet thread in 11 parts (0/11)

First, are you a technical writer? You should be a technical writer. Have you written some (or all) of the following: user documentation, developer documentation, tutorials and/or how-tos, blog posts of a technical nature, and so on? (1/11)

Great! You’re a technical writer! Next question: do you want to gain experience working in open source? Maybe you’ve never worked in open source! Maybe you’ve done a little, and want to do more? If yes, then turn to the next tweet. If no, enjoy this gif of a baby hippo: (2/11)

Do you meet the eligibility criteria? (They’re here: https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/tech-writer-guide#eligibility). If so, wonderful! Next step is to check out this year’s list of participating organizations: https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/participants and their project ideas. (4/11)

Your goal is to find 3-5 organizations that sound interesting AND that have project ideas that resonate with you. IMPORTANT: you can only submit three project ideas TOTAL. So you can only choose (up to) three different organizations! (5/11)

Reach out to the mentors of the orgs you are interested in! Ask thoughtful questions! Tell them honestly what interested you about their project. Maybe you love writing tutorials for beginners, or enjoy reorganizing docsets, or have always wanted to learn about linters? (6/11)

Test out (as much as you can) the org’s onboarding process. (For extra bonus points, keep a friction log [ https://devrel.net/developer-experience/an-introduction-to-friction-logging] of your experience.) Use this time as an opportunity to … ask more questions!
(7/11)

Start jotting notes of things you think you could add to or improve in the project documentation. These notes can turn into your project proposals! Don’t feel limited to the organization’s project ideas! Share your own project ideas and ask for feedback! (8/11)

Be as specific as you can, and think “tight scope, clear impact.” If you think you can measure the impact of your proposal, say so! Maybe you’ve noticed that many people open an issue about the same problem each month, and that better docs could fix that! (9/11)

What should you NOT do? Don’t spam all the mentors! Don’t ask “what *exactly* should I do so that you pick ME and MY project??” (This is a collaboration, not a homework assignment!) Don’t open a hundred pull requests moving commas around ... (10/11)

Technical writer applications open June 9! https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/timeline Good luck! Come hang out in the Slack and mailing lists! https://developers.google.com/season-of-docs/docs/discussion (11/11. FIN.)