Re: Techwriting after the boom

[Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

"Michael West" wrote. 

> Writing/editing/publication design/teaching have all been
> occupational specialties for centuries. Why? Because it takes
> a lifetime to learn to do them well. 

Sure. For fiction novelists, screenwriters, poets, artists - the art of story
telling and expressing those stories via writing takes a lifetime to master. 

I got a news flash for ya: Technical writing isn't art. Its non-fiction
writing. Different discipline, different requirements, different demands. 

> And because people
> who spend their lives mastering a technical field are not
> likely to be masters of writing/editing/publication design/
> teaching at the same time -- though we can all think of
> notable exceptions.

Many of the best and most respected scientists, thinkers, and leaders of now
and centuries past were excellent communicators. Part of their skill was that
they were accomplished in both communication and science. 

It has always been required that the author of any work of non-fiction is an
expert or possesses extensive knowledge of the subject matter. Would you
purchase a book on medicine from a doctor who adamantly refused to learn about
biology? Of course you wouldn't. 

Yet, sometime in the past decade or so, this concept of the SME started
floating around. And tech writers were suddenly one step away from the content.
Rather than learn the subject matter and then combine that with excellent
writing skills, SME-centric technical writing was free to focus on one-off work
and relegate all subject matter issues to somebody else. This leads to bad
documentation and people who call themselves writers who don't really write
anything. 

As such, SME-based writers are mostly a combination of editor and DTP clerk. 
Personally, I think the technical communication profession needs to realign
expectations to be in-line with traditional view of authors, editors, and
assistants. Publishers work this way. 

Authors write the books. (primary focus: content; secondary focus:
presentation)

Editors edit the books (primary focus: presentation; secondary focus: content)

DTP people lay it out and make it pretty (primary focus: tools; secondary
focus: presentation) 

So, if you call yourself a "writer" you have to be doing at least some
authoring. And being an author means you have to know what your authoring. And
author who doesn't understand his own work isn't an author. I mean Christ
Almighty, how fricking more simple do you want it. Chant after me: ignorance is
not an asset, ignorance is not an asset, ignorance is not an asset, the capital
of Nebraska is Lincoln! 

And that simple principle is as old as time. (Lincoln on the other hand...)

As for politics, Lewis & Clark, and the remainder of the discussion - again we
will chant:

You cannot write intelligent about a topic you don't understand, you
cannot...eh, get the hell back to work, you. 

Andrew Plato


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