Re: job title nomenclature on biz cards

[TechComm Dood <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>]

> I am a technical writer--one who writes documents from nothing; I am also an editor editing my manager's documents and other company documents. I can't help but take some offense to your statement that "most people who call themselves 'technical writers' or 'technical communicators' are actually editors since they do not author content or possess the technical skills to communicate ideas." I'm not sure what type of "technical writers" you deal with, but everyone I've ever known as a technical writer was/is required to author, edit, and communicate ideas. Writing is certainly a form of communication; to do it well, writers must be excellent communicators.

You're getting too hung up on titles and not thinking about roles.
"Communicator" is indeed vague both in title and role. "Editor" as a
title means little, and as a role indicates that someone is quite good
at ensuring information is accurate, consistent, and
well-written/presented. "Writer" as a title means you write, but just
how is not easily determined, and as a role indicates that the
majority of time spent is on writing new content where once there was
nothing.

> I also disagree with your statement that "if you handed me a card with the title 'technical writer' I would expect you to be able to author content from scratch based on your own knowledge." Only autobiographical writers can rely solely upon their own knowledge/experience; while, all other writers must delve into research, including writers of fiction.

All true, but his description is accurate and what I'd expect as well.
Someone who pulls info from a spec and fills in holes by asking SMEs
questions, without validating and writing content themselves, isn't
necessarily a technical writer.

> For example, I must rely upon my ability to interpret the technical explanations I receive from our engineers on new or existing features, my ability to test the software to verify it is functioning as expected, and my ability to research the technology on which the functionality is based. I'd certainly produce a very poor document if I only relied upon my knowledge.

Is this true every time? If you were hired into a company that sells
query utilities to database warehouses, would you expect to be able to
do your job without ever learning about how queries are constructed,
or about databases, or the like? Would you feel comfortable in your
contributions to the company if you relied on others to feed you
information all the time?

> I apologize if I am misinterpreting your meanings here; but, please don't stereotype (or perpetuate a stereotype) that degrades other professionals in the technical writing field by pigeonholing their duties and abilities.

I don't think he did that at all. Other opinions may vary.

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