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Subject:Re: The STC and me From:John Fleming <johntwrl -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 29 Jul 2004 20:27:13 -0600
On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 21:00:11 +0000, while chained to a desk in the
scriptorium, bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com (Bruce Byfield) wrote:
> $John Fleming wrote:
> $
> $| Though I would argue that most people who join the organization have
> $| some interest in writing and/or technology and/or one or more subjects
> $| that can be loosely grouped together under the heading of technical
> $| communication.
> $
> $In writing, certainly. Considering the number of English majors like me
> $who have passed through the field, that's not surprising. I've heard
> $many tech-writers say that the field appealed to them because it was a
> $way of earning a living by writing.
> $
> $In technology, more rarely. Everybody is surprised by a tech-writer who
> $knows technology. I've found that my interest in Linux helps
> $tremendously in getting the developers to accept me at a new place, and
> $I amazed one team leader by filing a security bug; in twenty years, he
> $said, he had never heard of a tech-writer knowing enough about security
> $to do so.
> $
> $What makes these observations all the more telling is that I only know
> $what I've picked up on-the-fly about technology. If someone with my
> $limited technical knowledge can impress developers as a knowledgeable
> $tech-writer, it's obvious that their expectations are fairly low.
I've always felt one of my strengths as a technical writer is that I do
have a technical background.
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