TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: The Problem with STC From:"Michael West" <mike -dot- west -at- oz -dot- quest -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 12 Dec 2000 13:39:33 +1100
Alan Miller wrote:
> Michael West has taken exception with Andrew
> Plato's views with regard to the relative importance
> of technical knowledge and writing skills. The answer
> is very simple (to my mind): Mr. Plato is correct Mr.
> West is incorrect. There, that was easy. :-{)
If you look closely at what I took exception to,
you'll see that I was responding to Mr Plato's
assertion that one thing is "infinitely more important"
than another thing.
He's already admitted the hyperbole and qualified it to
my satisfaction, so I'm not going to pursue that line of
debate any further.
My own experience (and this no-one else can argue with)
is that it is much harder to find good technical writers
than it is to find good programmers. My own experience
has been that there is more unusable documentation
written by technical experts than there is written by
expert communicators. This is because technical expertise
does not REQUIRE good communication skills, but an expert
communicator MUST learn enough about a subject area to
communicate it effectively.
Apparently Mr Miller's experience has been different, and about
all that can be said about that is that the world is an amazing
place.
Regarding Mr Miller's interest in a survey on this question,
I don't know where I'd fit because I have been a professional
programmer, a data center manager, a telecommunications
analyst, and a business analyst, although my academic
background was non-technical. I've also been an actor, a
musician, a poet, a language instructor, and a cryptanalyst.
I've never been a cowboy or a fire chief, but hey, I've still got
a few years left.
--
Michael West
Melbourne, Australia
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY. http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Take XML and Tech Writing courses online! Our instructor-led courses
(4-6 hrs/wk) give you "hands on" experience at your convenience. STC members
get 20% off! http://www.online-learning.com/index.html.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
