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>I am an aspiring technical writer from India and a brand new
>member to this mailing list. Please tell me what are the basic
>qualifications a person should have to enter in this proffession.
>I am right now working as a software tester in a firm in India. Is
>the knowledge of HTML and flash-5 are of any help?
I would list the following as basic tech writing requirements:
- Excellent grasp of your chosen language (e.g., English).
- Ability to structure information in a way that makes the relations
between the individula pieces of information clear.
- Ability to sort available data into relevant and irrelevant information
and to notice missing relevant information.
- Ability to write clearly.
- Good technical knowledge of the things to be described.
- General ability to use computers as a tool.
You'll notice that I did not list any specific tools, such as FrameMaker,
Word, Visio, Flash, Acrobat... This is because I consider any tools to be
easily learnable and unimportant for the task of being a tech writer.
(There were tech writers before there were PCs, so it follows that you
can be one with only a typewriter and your head. And the typewriter is
probably optional.)
The basic requirements above are much more fundamental, and some may in
fact be more like personality traits in that you either have or haven't
got them. (For exmaple, it is my impression that the basic ability to
structure information clearly is very difficult or impossible to learn.)
Hope this helps
Jan Henning
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Jan Henning
ROSEMANN & LAURIDSEN GMBH
Am Schlossberg 14, D-82547 Eurasburg, Germany
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