Re: A step up, a step down

["Sean O'Donoghue (EPA)" <Sean.O'Donoghue -at- ericsson -dot- com -dot- au>]

A step up, or a step down?

It's a choice. I Know I could be getting more money doing other jobs - I
actually took less money to start technical writing - and also had to give
up shift work. So I got a social life and a job I liked doing.

Developers do a good job, often they are on call if their code fails - I may
very rarely have to work outside normal hours - but its unusual - and I
control it that way. Often developers are tails on very indecisive dogs.

As a technical writer I usually, depending on the amount of "interest" from
other parties, have complete control over my work. I guess that allows me to
both enjoy that "artistic/craftsman" side of seeing something I created from
start to finish, as well as to ensure things are up to the standards I
demand - not those that deal to a lowest denominator of quality. Developers
often don't have that much freedom.

I also suffer from the I enjoy writing disease. If I wasn't writing, I would
have to be.....writing. So might as well try and combine my obsession with
my job, letting my day take the easiest path rather than fighting to try and
be a square peg in a round hole.

If a programmer can't work out how you can enjoy the job, ask how he/she
would feel doing technical writing (give them sometime - feelings and
envisioning aren't their strong points ;-) then tell them to double it,
times it by five, add the world's largest number to it, multiply it by a
googolplex or two.....and that's how negatively you feel about programming.

If not - well just think of them as cute little hamsters that can sit at
keyboards pushing the keys. Harmless and in some ways quite bright - but do
YOU want to be a hamster running on that wheel all the time..... 

[[ or mention all the famous programmers - like Shakespeare, Milton, Joyce,
Tolkien, Austen....oh your so right - they were writers!!!!!!!!!!]]


Margaret said:
"technical writers aren't really necessary
because everyone can write a clear sentence or a procedure--let the
programmers write the documentation. It's a lot like someone who thinks he
can be a race car driver because he can drive a car on the freeway...."

and this is the opinion of many programmers, and that's usually why I am
only allowed to review their work once.....after that they have the look of
amateur race drivers when they realize they have just written off the family
car.......and then they hand the keys over to the professional racing driver
team of technical writers - our modifications give it more horsepower, make
it handle better,.....

anyhow....enough from me....back to the joys of writing - and reviewing
programmer created documentation ;-)     

regards and thanks, 
Sean O'Donoghue-Hayes

"being right means never having to say....." 

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