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.
Hello All,
Me again (I haven't been on the list long enough to know whether I should be
proud or embarrassed of the discussion that has blossomed from my seedling
inquiry).
I want to thank all of the folks who answered my initial email, both to the
list and privately. I've received a few styles guides -- some quite daunting
in size, others simply representing the delta between the company style and
that of a recognized standard such as the MS Manual of Style -- and tips
galore, including a lot of cautionary advice about standards creep and
avoiding unimaginitive persnicketiness in general.
At the bottom of this email, i've listed some of the comments and
suggestions for further reading that I received privately. For me, the wheat
I've separated from the chaff is that any and all attempts to codify the
technical writing process should be undertaken with an eye to pragmatism and
a sense of humor about yourself. Using a couple of local colloquialisms (say
that 10 times fast! BTW - I'm in Texas) to sum up:
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Don't get to big fer yer britches.
Thanks again,
Jessica
Recommended Reading:
Managing Your Documentation Projects by Joann T. Hackos
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing by Krista Van Laan and
Catherine Julian
Useful Comments:
"Basically we bought a style guide (Chicago MOS/MS/Sun whatever was most
relevant) and used this as a reference. We then created a model chapter
which detailed layout (lists/ figure numbering/referencing etc) and provided
a glossary of terms/spelling. The bought style guide was the reference for
disputes etc while the model was the day-to-day guide." -- this template
idea was repeated by a few others
"It's very good to have this [Styles] all written down ... It also gives us
a nice place to store shared information--that is, information any writer
here might like to know, but might not be easily e-mailed (and which we
would prefer archived)." -- the training angle was mentioned by many
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available 4/30/01 at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001 Conference East,
June 4-6, Baltimore, MD. Now covering Acrobat 5. Early registration deadline
April 27. http://www.pdfconference.com.
---
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.
