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Re: Proof that content is more important than style
Subject:Re: Proof that content is more important than style From:David Neeley <dbneeley -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sun, 17 Nov 2002 17:30:34 -0800 (PST)
Isn't the *first* requirement for a technical writer when
contemplating a work to understand the audience?
Andrew continues to do his curmudgeonly best to define a
problem and then to argue *his* definition...while on this
list, he's "preaching to the choir" to a very large extent.
The many incompetent so-called "technical writers" who
aren't concerned with accuracy are not likely to be ones
who subscribe to resources like this list so they can
constantly upgrade their work!
Thus, we get a continual uproar among well-meaning people
who can't understand what the fuss is about. Andrew's
position seems so self-evident that it hardly needs
discussing, yet he and a few others simply can't seem to
take yes for an answer. To them, it isn't enough for anyone
to agree that yes, the paramount thing is to make
documentation useful, timely, accessible, and most of all,
accurate. When we attempt to point out that the division
set up in this "straw man" argument of "content vs.
presentation" is false, we are met simply with a
re-assertion of the same points.
As many have said, the efforts of making information
"useful" and "accessible" inescapably include issues of
presentation. To continue to argue that "accuracy is more
important" to people who begin with that agreement is to
fail to respect the audience and must therefore either be a
simple ego exercise or a completely failed audience
analysis.
Since I believe that the first part of content evaluation
is to determine the facts about the information's
audience--I suggest that Andrew fails that test in this
continued rant.
Cordially,
David
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