Re[2]: ...impersonating a technical writer...

[Harry Hager <hhager -at- dttus -dot- com>]

     Bruce,
     
     >Will anybody even notice someone learning the job as they go?<
     
     >But, probably, tech-writers only seem worse than other professionals 
     because I've observed their shortcomings for so long. Some days, I'm 
     convinced that it's more than just tech-writers who are impersonating 
     experts. The entire high-tech industry is so full of 
     "just-in-time-learning," "on-the-job training" and impulse 
     decision-making that I sometimes wonder if experts exist any more.<
     
     >Everybody else is too busy trying to hide the fact that THEY don't 
     know what they're doing.<
     
     Your last statement all too true.
     
     I've long ago determined that we (tech writers and everybody else in 
     the computer business) are all flying by the seat of out pants. We are 
     all trying to figure it out as we go along. We are all impersonating 
     experts. 
     
     In this industry, if somebody tries to tell you that they know exactly 
     what they are doing, know exactly how they are doing it, know exactly 
     what they will have when they are finished, and know exactly where 
     they be be when they are finished, they are bluffing. Either that or 
     they are a real genius or have some secret they are not sharing. 
     
     No matter what company or group I've been working for, there always 
     seems to a feeling that someday we're going to get organized so we can 
     do it right; but in the meantime let's try it this way and see if it 
     works. We always assume that our competition is already organized and 
     has it figured out. Not true. 
     
     That's one reason why I love this work. There always something new 
     that needs to be figured out. I like to master a piece of software I'm 
     documenting, a tool I'm using, and move on the the next uncertainty. 
     Working in this industry is fun because it's always changing, always 
     churning, always reinventing itself. 
     
     Years ago I was writing serious material about the distinction between 
     first generation computers, second generation computers, and third 
     generation computers. Today those terms and concepts are irrelevant to 
     the work we do now. Nice to know but irrelevant. Lots of the stuff we 
     are writing about today will be equally irrelevant in a few years. 
     Problem is, we don't know which stuff will irrelevant and which will 
     still be important. 
     
     Jim Hager
     hhager -at- dttus -dot- com