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RE: techie or font fondler? - introspection ad nauseum
Subject:RE: techie or font fondler? - introspection ad nauseum From:"Sean Brierley" <sbri -at- haestad -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 3 Mar 2003 10:31:44 -0500
Well . . . I'd offer that truck driving is more concrete than technical
writing. For example, in the USA, you need to take a specific test that
gets you a specific federally-approved driving license.
There are no national standards for technical writers.
Sure, there are some college programmes. But, many, myself included,
argue that academia and business-world technical writing are different
with different goals. I would argue an additional apprentice-ship is
necessary.
But, the scope of the profession is fairly large, too, covering all
industries, such as software, manufacturing, pharmaceutical . . ., and a
wide array of docs, from 3,000 pagers to 4-page cmyk newsletters and
everything in-between. And, the practitioners are a varied bunch, from
people who transcribe other peoples' content into Microsoft Word to
those who author original content in a structured environment. Some
technical writers also do industrial photography, others original
illustration, and some write extensive macros to aid in the completion
of their appointed task. Some write for offset press, others only for
online presentation, and others do both.
At some extremes, there is little difference between a secretary and a
technical writer and between a programmer and a technical writer.
I certainly believe that the STC is oriented towards a particular
segment of our population and also believe that even the STC has trouble
getting a handle on how best to qualify its members as professionals.
-----Original Message-----
From: kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com [mailto:kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com]
You know, I've worked in a wide variety of fields before getting into
technical writing. But only in this field have I seen so much time and
energy devoted to analyzing and discussing what qualifies one to be a
"real" practitioner of the occupation.
I mean, I never once sat behind the wheel and thought, "Am I a REAL
truck
driver?" And none of us really talked about it on the loading dock.
It's interesting the introspection this profession brings out in us...
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