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ea wrote, in response to Bruce Byfield:
>First, let me clarify the personal situation. It's not that I'm unwilling
to learn how >to program. I have tried to learn it. In a word, I suck.
>I could spend a lot of time and stress learning how to be a bad programmer,
or I could >admit that I do one thing well (write) and see how I can expand
my career that way.
>Second, there are SO many other things that technical writers do rather
than explain
>software. (I believe someone else has already said this?) Under the guise
of >"technical writing" I have:
Actually, I think both you and Bruce are right. Bruce is saying, with the
specific example of learning how to program, that the more a technical
writer learns about their subject matter area the better they will be. I
don't think you're saying this isn't true, just that technical writers have
our own skill set: writing.
I know exactly how to rewire a plug. I can describe how it's done so that my
ten-year-old nephew can follow the instructions and do it himself. But when
*I* have to rewire a plug, it takes me 15 minutes to half an hour and much
muttered cursing, because I'm a klutz. (My nephew, who is not a klutz, does
it much faster and listens interestedly to my muttered cursing.) No one
would ever hire me to rewire plugs... but anyone can hire me to write about
how to rewire plugs. I'm good at that.
Same goes for programming. I have a half-assed knowledge of Java, C, COBOL,
Visual Basic, etc - any language I've come into contact with. I learn enough
to ask good questions (I begin, of course, by asking stupid questions) and
to notice when something is appallingly wrong with an example and to clarify
a developer's comments. I don't learn enough to write the code myself for
anything more than baby examples. But as someone else said, good developers
write good clear code: good technical writers write good clear explanations.
Jane Carnall
Technical Writer and Compendium
of Arcane and Useless Information
Never Be Afraid To Ask A Stupid Question
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