Re: Refining My "Cutting Edge" Technical Writing Skills Post

[topsidefarm -at- mva -dot- net]

I'm on digest, so I apologize if I'm a little behind on this.

>>> Andrew Plato said:

A cutting edge technical writer considers tools a very small aspect of
his/her job.

The best writers spend the overwhelming majority (75% or more) of their
time acquiring intimate,
expert-level knowledge of the technologies they document. These writers
document from experience and insight. They don't just "pretty up" somebody
else's work using way-cool tools and formats.

Tool skills (like XML) might impress other writers at an STC gathering,
but it rarely impresses employers or anybody else outside STC. The real
world wants writers who can generate useful content. The tool used is
never as important as the quality of the content.

Sure, you can acquire tool skills and spend a lot of time on that. But, it
won't make you a better writer. It might make you a better desktop
publisher or layout/designer. But that's not the same as being a writer.
<<<


I mostly agree with Andrew on this one. As I stated here a long time ago:
Don't be a tool. Your knowledge of writing AND the technology your are
writing about are what will give you the edge, not the software tools you
know. If you get a chance to learn new tools, by all means do so. Just
don't let that be the extent of your education for the future.

As for what type of education or training to pursue, just because you have
an undergrad degree doesn't mean your next degree automatically has to be
a graduate degree. If your undergrad degree is not in an engineering,
science, or technology field, you should seriously consider that route. In
my own case, I have a BS in Business. The most important part of my resume
is the nearly 30 years of manufacturing experience (I specialize in heavy
machinery and manufacturing systems). I get jobs because of my experience,
not my degree. However, I have noticed that more and more emphasis is
being placed on engineering, science, and technology degrees, and it's
getting harder to get the good jobs without one. As a result, I am now
working on a BS degree in Technology - Product Design, with a minor in
Physics. This is a program that will directly apply to the field I work
in. Will it improve my abilities as a writer? In as far as it will improve
my knowledge of the core technologies I work with, yes.

So what of the future of TW degrees? I believe that we my be seeing the
last days of the free-standing TW degree, at least at the undergraduate
level. There just isn't enough time in a four year program to learn both
the technology and the communication skills required to be a good TW. The
graduate TW degrees are another story. Contrary to what was generally said
in another recent thread, the advanced TW degrees are of great value.
HOWEVER, there is a huge caveat that goes with that statement: it assumes
that your undergrad degree is in engineering, science, or technology.
Without the engineering, science, or technology undergrad degree, advanced
TW degrees are not really worth a whole lot.

One final area of education that doesn't seem to get much attention,
primarily because it doesn't show on your resume, is keeping abreast of
the political news that impacts your field of work. I didn't mention
technological news in that statement because everyone seems to
instinctively understand that, but most people seem to miss the impact of
national/international politics on the technology of their field of work.

As an example, I'll use the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) rules
and the engineering for a fuel pump assembly system (a project I have
recently been involved in). For over a decade under the Bush Sr. and
Clinton administrations, everybody in the auto industry "knew" that the
CAFE standards were not going to get any easier, and might actually be
tightened. This meant that everyone was planning on having to squeeze more
mileage out of the fuel their cars used. Given that the quality of a fuel
pump directly impacts fuel mileage, the designers of these pumps moved
toward greater and greater precision in the pumps. In turn, this required
greater and greater precision in the assembly systems, and a proportional
reduction in the speed of these systems. Now comes Bush Jr. The auto
industry "knows" that the CAFE rules are not going to get tighter and may
even be eased. That leads to a change id design standards leaning more
toward speed over precision. In turn, this leads to changes in some of the
technology being used in the assembly systems.

TW tie-in: this knowledge allows the writer to anticipate the
technological direction their employer and industry might take. But do
politics affect other industries, or is mine an isolated example? Let's
ask Andrew: has the Patriot Act impacted your work in network
administration and security?

Again, this political education dosn't show on your resume, but being able
to make small talk during an interview about issues affecting the industry
can make a difference in whether or not you getthe job. It sure did for
the job I'm in now.

Jason A. Czekalski




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