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> It is possible. Although I think it is something more sinister (and therefore
> more interesting). I think tech-writing institutions, books, and schools are
> feeding would-be writers the wrong messages. Or more appropriately, the message
> that "yes, you must understand what you are documenting" is absent from most
> tech writer classes/meetings/etc.
>
My comments were more a supplement than a correction. The problem
that you mention is all too true.
Many of the would-be Powers That Be in tech-writing remind me of the
general in World War I who (at least according to those in the
trenches) would order an attack so that the front line would
straight on the map. All too often, these attacks ignored the
realities of terrain, and were costly in terms of effort and lives.
While nobody has died (so far as I know) of overly-rigid processes
in technical writing, considerable effort has been wasted on them.
Yet the wrong messages continue to be sent, because these messages
fit well into a hierarchal mindset. The idea of observing, then
altering your processes to fit the particular case is not only
foreign to many of the self-appointed Leaders of Technical Writing,
but seems to strike them as terribly messy and undignified as well.
> Maybe it is just the "fracturing" that we've debated before on this list. Tech
> writing is fracturing into two distinct types: tool/writing monkeys and subject
> experts. The tool monkeys hate the subject folks because we won't acknowledge
> their tool skills, and the subject folks are too busy cashing checks and
> getting their pet's food bowls gold plated.
Recently, my wife and I have been re-watching (and re-reading) the
Sharpe series about the Peninsular War (good, clean, but somewhat
hokey fun). I like to think of the tool monkeys and process folk as
the regular companies, good for standing in line and following
orders, and the rest of us as the Light companies who are trained to
think on our feet and take the initiative. :-)
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- progeny -dot- com
"Wild wood, bush and briar, it makes your feet to stumble,
Wise blood,the sky's on fire: away, away,
Wild wood, bush and briar, it makes your heart to tremble;
Love, you mustn't tire at the dying of the day."
-OysterBand, "We Shall Come Home"
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