RE: Examples of good tech writing?

["Joe Malin" <jmalin -at- tuvox -dot- com>]

My only objection to this type of book is that they're often way too
simple for my needs.

I have a healthy disrespect for most technical books. Most of them
aren't written by tech writers, so of course the writing is C+ quality.
They often skip the necessary stuff and delve into the author's pet
interest, regardless of its importance. Some exceptions that come to
mind are FM7: The Complete Reference (O'Keefe and Loring) and HTML and
XHTML:The Definitive Guide (Musciano). No accident that I refer to them
constantly.

An intelligent person with time may be able to skip the Dummies/Idiots
books, but how many of us can claim both?


Joe Malin
Technical Writer
(408)625-1623
jmalin -at- tuvox -dot- com 
www.tuvox.com
The views expressed in this document are those of the sender, and do not
necessarily reflect those of TuVox, Inc.	

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=tuvox -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=tuvox -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
Of Morton, Christopher
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 8:04 AM
To: jim guarino; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Examples of good tech writing?

I couldn't agree more. It's one thing to write in an informal tone, but
I found my one "Dummies" purchase to be so annoying that I didn't make
it past a portion of chapter one.

Perhaps the versions *are* better, but I'll not be investing my money to
find out.

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