Ask HN: Is “technical writer and CS degree” good enough for hiring managers?

My biggest fear as soon as college ends (an impending threat) is that I won't immediately be relevant to hiring managers as a programmer. Is it a viable strategy to become a technical writer, develop a personal project for a while (How short is too short? Is it measured on the order of years or months? I don't want to be a not-programmer for too long, accruing irrelevancy, but it doesn't look good to be in a job very shortly), then come out looking for a job in my relevant domain?