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It may not be the norm but I've known liberal arts writers with more technical understanding of a specific product than their CompSci writer counterparts. Part of this related to how much effort each writer put into learning new technology.
But there are few writers - even with advanced degrees - who can match the technical or business knowledge of their SMEs - particularly concerning what the SME has created or spends 100% of their time working on. If you want to be considered on par or a valuable team player - a technical writer usually has to demonstrate superior writing/doc skills when compared to other team members. Producing inaccurate or poorly written docs doesn't do this.
I've known writers who wrote less clearly & effectively than their SMEs - what kind of value were they providing? What kind of job security did they have?
There are writers who position themselves as helpers to the SME - who basically say "It's not worth it for you to spend your time on this - I can produce the docs since you have more important work."
I think of my role as more like "This is my area of expertise - I can produce the docs more effectively than anyone else." Admittedly that sounds a little obnoxious but trying to support this statement pushes me to continually work on my skills - both technical & writing.
John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
I only believe it can be an either/or situation because where the
writer comes from will have an impct on it. If the tech writer comes
from an English or Journalism background, their writing skills will
probably be stronger than their technical skills. OTOH, if the writer
comes from an IT background, their technical ability will probably be
stronger than their writing ability.
Take two people; one with a masters in literature and one with a
masters in compsci. Don't you expect two different strengths?
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