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Michelle,
I was all set to introduce my comments with an apology for my usual
contrarian, cynical view but I see that I am merely adding to Gene and
Bruce's comments.
My thoughts pertain to business software techwriting in general, not just
editing. And I address them in particular to newer writers.
To substantiate that these are not empty words... In ten years I made it to
the very top of the STC salary survey range, above the PhD echelon even
though my credentials are entirely home-spun. And I also wrote an
Amazon-5-star book that has sold 8000 copies. So I've figured out a thing or
two about writing. Or more likely, about readers.
With that preamble, How to Convince People About the Value of Techwriting:
1. Stop worrying about making techwriting valuable and instead concentrate
on making valuable techwriting. (For those old enough to remember, this is
the Charlie the Tuna rule.)
2. People don't want good editing. They want answers.
3. Writing is for reading. Only your readers "own" the decision-making. My
classic pet-peeve example is "E.E.Cummings". Despite his preference for any
damn capitalization he likes-and I don't begrudge him, I just ignore him in
deference to my readers-capitalize things so that readers can read your
sentences. And don't be afraid to put a period outside of quotation marks if
it reduces misinterpretation. (Two or three issues ago in the STC quarterly,
someone wrote a beautiful article debunking some grammatical traditions and
dogmas. Could someone help me with the citation?)
4. Do less writing and more picture drawing. I realized only recently that
my professional career can be reduced to a single cliche: a picture is worth
1000 words. It has nothing to do with reader laziness: we are all incredibly
overloaded with new info demands. Make posters, brochures, diagrams,
reference cards, cue cards, hyperlinked flowcharts, and profuse Help. You
will be valued long before genuine results are proven or disproven, but that
is the unfortunate hypocrisy of the dynamics of techwriting. It has
dominated book publishing for 1500 years-everyone judges books by their
covers-so if you think you are going to reverse this, you are, um...
mistaken.
5. Finally, get your techwriting placed right into the applications. This is
called usability and UI design. This is the inevitable evolution of software
and the real place for good writing. The recently lauded wave of
Sarbanes-Oxley "pseudo work" is great if it helps some folks pay the rent,
but it is a losing proposition overall; long-term, beauracracy doesn't
create wealth, it removes it. If you ride the S-O wave, don't cry when the
trough hits.
6. Base your writing priorities on those layed out by Gary Blake, The Wall
Street Journal, 1/7/97: "It Is Recommended that You Write Clearly.":
on business writing, has ranked writing problems on a scale from one to ten.
He notes that minor problems (1-5) may only cause embarrassment, whereas
major problems in your writing (6-10) could "seriously harm the health of
your organization" (p. A18). Spelling, punctuation, and misused words may
just embarrass you, but lengthy sentences and paragraphs, passive language,
vagueness, and poor organization could actually harm your professional
reputation and that of your firm. In the field of finance, the ability to
write clearly, concisely, and coherently is more than a virtue: it's a
necessity!"
If you do all these things and are not valued, you know what to do, right?
Except for the rarest of employers, the way our job market works, it is
easier to make big steps by moving than staying.
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