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> From her perspective, "all" technical writers (at least all that she had
> worked with) possessive of their deliverables and unwilling to accept
> suggestions. They would nick-pick about obscusre points in grammar or
> punctuation. The TWers missed the point of delivering on time, on budget,
> while they were seeking "perfection." She called it arrogance.
>
> When pressed, she admitted she had only worked with 5-10 writers. I
> suggested that those traits she cited could come under the label
> occupational hazards.
"Only" 5-10? That sounds like a reasonably good sample to me. Nor, I'm afraid,
is this opinion an isolated one. In fact, judging from my experience, it
represents one of the main opinions of technical writers. In fact, I'm sorry to
say that it's an opinion that I'm sometimes forced to share. I'm not happy
about admitting that, because I've worked off and on in the field, and I would
prefer to have a better opinion of my average colleague. However, I can't deny
what I've observed, either.
In my experience, too many tech-writers do focus on the minor things and miss
the point of what they're doing. I don't consider this simply an "occupational
hazard," but a disregard of their responsibilities. I suspect that it's due to
insecurity, and, to an extent, I can sympathize. After all, who doesn't feel
momentarily overwhelmed when faced with having to learn new jargon and
technologies? However, instead of doing the sensible thing and gearing up to
tackle the challenge, some writers prefer to retreat into the areas where they
feel competent. Like any retreat, this reaction is defensive, and, like any
defensiveness, it can easily come across as arrogance.
Personally, when someone tells me that I don't sound like a typical technical
writer (a comment I hear a lot), I take it as the compliment it's intended as.
Inevitably, what's meant is that I don't make this retreat. Sure, I'm
frequently humbled by having to admit my ignorance, but at least those I work
with can see that I'm trying to coordinate my efforts with theirs.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604-421.7177
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