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On 12/26/00 2:26 PM, bgranat -at- att -dot- net (bgranat -at- att -dot- net) wrote:
>Nobody is advocating not understanding the topic. The assumption among
>professionals is that the technical writer understands the topic.
You're right -- nobody is "advocating" that. Unfortunately, it's
widespread anyway. I think Andrew's position (and please, correct me if
I'm wrong) stems from the same experiences I've had: many, many writers
in our profession cannot, or will not, master the subject about which
they're writing. Without that, *all* other efforts are wasted.
My advice to clients has always been "When your writers know the material
and can discuss it accurately, then we can spend time about processes,
standards, and other secondary tasks."
They almost never hit that goal, because they insist on spending their
time developing brilliant processes and style guides that let them
publish beautiful, efficient, inaccurate, and incomplete material.
----->Mike
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