Re: How are Technical Writer's Perceived

[Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

--- lestatvampire39 -at- hotmail -dot- com wrote:
> Hello Everyone,
> 
> I am doing a paper on technical writers and require some input from 
> our side of the fence.  Basically, the angle is, how do we remove the 
> negative preconceptions that others have about us?

It is seldom that a post appears that causes me to laugh out loud. What a
timely question. Personally, I recommend you read all of today's threads. I
think you may get a pretty good idea of why others have negative preconceptions
about Technical Writers.

> If an accountant is stereotyped as boring, a lawyer as money 
> grabbing, and a used car saleman as .....well we all know -  What is 
> the stereotype for a tech writer?

Let's see: nit picky, prone to take offense at the drop of an unreferenced
pronoun, rude, arrogant, self-aggrandizing, egotistical, and having an inflated
sense of our own importance.

Besides, if you've been interviewing others about us, they should have given
you a pretty fair idea of what's negative about us.

> Additionally I would like to know why you believe we are perceived as 
> such?

Because about 10% of us ARE that way.

> And lastly, if you have any ideas on how to changed this perception I 
> would appreciate it.  

Pardon me, but I'm off to solve the problems in the Middle East. Then I'll go
to Ireland and solve those problems. This one is WAY TOO HARD for me.

:-)

=====
Tom Murrell
mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/index.html
Page Last Updated 03/14/02
--Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee--
(From a poem by John Dunne)

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