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Subject:RE: SME vs. Audience From:"Oja, W. Kelly" <w -dot- kelly -dot- oja -at- verizon -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 9 Sep 2003 13:04:22 -0500
Twriter01 wrote:
>As a technical writer, I would like to be the SME and "one with my
>audience." However, that is not always the case. If you have to pick
one
>path, which would you choose: be "one with your audience" and interview
>your SME for information that you know your audience needs, or become
an
>SME, and then write for the intended audience, or do something
completely
>different?
I have read a few of the other replies to this thread, and I gotta go
along with Eric and Geoff. I do not think it is a matter of choosing one
or the other, but rather a combination of the two. Through the process
of staying one with your audience and interviewing SME's for
information, you will attain more and more SME knowledge. I suppose the
trick is to never forget where you came from when writing for your
audience after you become an SME.
