RE: A sobering encounter (So now what?)

[Matthew Horn <mhorn -at- macromedia -dot- com>]

>From the AP wire:
> [Engineers just don't obsess over writing in the same
> manner that tech writers do. Engineers generally don't care 
> about fonts, styles, maturity models, and the litany of marginally 
> valuable one-off stuff that consumes some writers to madness. They care about - gasp 
> - content. 

Actually, this isn't always true and hasn't been my experience. I have worked with writing engineers who were overly concerned with the way things looked and spent much too much time on those matters rather than on the content. They were sure that the audience wanted nice-looking docs above all else.

The management was more than happy to get a writer in there and dismiss the focus on style and start adding some substance.

> The other sobering fact is that most engineers CAN write.

They can, but they don't want to. 

Matthew J. Horn
Sr. Technical Writer
< m a c r o m e d i a >

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