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.
Subject:Re: observation of tech writer status From:Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 1 Nov 2002 10:19:37 -0800 (PST)
"Kevin McLauchlan" <> wrote ...
> Hmm. This discussion sounds so familiar... :-)
> I'm not a cryptography expert. Our CTO is.
> I'm not a programming/software design expert.
> I suppose it is possible that I *could* become an
> expert in all those fields, but then I'd likely be out
> of work, because:
> a) my company could not afford me and
> b) I would be doing mostly other stuff than my
> first love, which is to write about it all.
And here we go again with the same tired arguments from the "I'm a writer, not an
engineer" camp.
The goal is not being "an expert." I think the proper term is "working
knowledge." I would classify that as "intimate and in depth understanding of the
technology, its use, its value, and its interaction with other technologies." In
other words, an expert user and administrator. Somebody who knows the
technologies, designs, and inner workings with a high-degree of proficiency.
Just being a good writer does not make you qualified to document a technology.
You have to have more than good writing skills. And we've been down that path
100,000 times here.
If you expect people to respect your docs as an authority, then you need to
command the information in those docs with authority. Otherwise, you're just a
wordsmith or tool monkey reformatting other people's words.
Andrew Plato
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out SnagIt - The Screen Capture Standard!
Download a free 30-day trial from http://www.techsmith.com/rdr/txt/twr
Find out what all the other tech writers, including Dan, already know!
All-new RoboHelp X3 is now shipping! Get single sourcing, print-quality
documentation, conditional text and much more, in the most monumental
release ever. Save $100! Order online at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
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.
