Re: anyone else in the same boat? (Long)

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

Keith Cronin wrote:
 
> I frequently see some veteran writers on this list telling us to start at
> the bottom of the computer industry, and/or that a programming background
> is required. I think this opinion is being voiced because that's how THEY
> did it - and/or because they can't believe a lowly non-bulging-forehead
> sub-humanoid could grasp tech writing.

You don't need a programming background; I certainly didn't have one
when I changed careers and started tech-writing. However, you do you
need to understand your subject matter. If that subject is software,
then you had better start learning at least the rudiments of
programming. 

Not that you can't do a conscientous, or even a good job, without
that knowledge. At times, too, deadlines mean that you can't learn
as much as would be ideal. But you can do a better job, and (chances
are) achieve a more consistent level of excellence with a greater
knowledge of your subject matter. Probably, too, you can do your job
more easily; for me, at least, it's always easier deciding what to
omit than writing at the limits of my knowledge.

To be honest, I don't know why anyone would resist the chance to
learn programming (or design, or any of the other byroads of tech
writing). One of the main attractions of tech writing for me is the
chance to learn new things. Often, I can even get paid to take the
courses. I can't always say that the areas I've learned are my first
choice of subjects, but any learning intrigues me. But, then, I've
always been a generalist, and someone once described me as an
"academic wannabe," so maybe my attitude isn't surprising.


> The freshness of the "non-technical" person can provide him or her with an
> objectivity that more closely mirrors that of the TARGET of all our
> writing - the USER.
> 
> In my first job, I found myself asking questions that other employees who
> were already familiar with our product NEVER asked. They often made
> assumptions based on their experience, which had little in common with the
> experience and education level of the minimum-wage CSRs that would be
> using the product in question (and its documentation).

The ability to anticipate users' needs is valuable in tech writing,
but being non-technical isn't the only way - or even the best way -
to achieve it. For one thing, by this logic, your best work would
always be in the first pass through the manual. In later your
revisions, your knowledge would be greater than your audience's, so
you could no longer communicate effectively.

Anticipating your audience's needs is largely a matter of foresight
and empathy. You can - and should - cultivate these traits no matter
what your level of knowledge.

But, at the same time, a tech writer bridges the gap between the
audience and the developers. That means you need to be firmly
planted on both sides of the gap. To me, it seems just as misguided
to emphasize the audience side as it would be to emphasize the
programming side: one's not much use without the other.

-- 
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"The Queen was in her chamber, a-combing of her hair,
There came Queen Mary's spirit and It stood behind her chair,
Singing, 'Backward and forward and sideways may you pass,
But I will stand behind you till you face the looking-glass.'"
- Rudyard Kipling, "The Looking-Glass"

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