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Subject:Re: This too is technical communication From:"Mike Starr" <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 6 Jun 2007 12:57:42 -0500
And that's why I put the disclaimer in there. I have an enormous respect for
grandparents. Hell, I'm old enough to be one.
Mike
--
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Ladonna Weeks" <ladonna -dot- weeks -at- comtrak -dot- com>
To: "'Mike Starr'" <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com>; <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 12:31 PM
Subject: RE: This too is technical communication
>I bet a fair number of people on this list are grandparents. I
> am! :-)
>
>
> Ladonna Weeks
> ladonna -dot- weeks -at- comtrak -dot- com
> 314-895-7674
> cell: 314-210-1652
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Starr [mailto:mikestarr-techwr-l -at- writestarr -dot- com]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 3:57 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: This too is technical communication
>
> I'm not trying to write documentation for clueless idiots but I
> may adopt the persona of one when interviewing a subject matter
> expert or testing a software product. It's a whole lot easier for
> me to tell an engineer to explain something to me the same way
> they'd explain it to a high-school dropout forklift driver (I
> sometimes say to explain things to me like they'd explain them to
> their grandmother but please don't infer from that that I believe
> all grandmothers are clueless idiots). I then tell the engineer
> that I may ask some really stupid questions but they're not
> because I'm stupid or because I want to create documentation for
> the stupid... I merely want to ferret out all the little details
> of information that engineers tend to forget they know because
> they've never had to explain their work to someone without their
> extensive background knowledge. I also tell them that I need to
> know things at the kindergarten level so that I can understand
> them well enough to explain them to my real audience.
>
> For me, the short explanation I give to some folks is that I'm a
> "professional clueless idiot". It's also particularly helpful in
> delivering a brief synopsis of a major aspect of my job to
> someone who's never even heard of a technical writer. I don't
> need to go into detail about how I dance with cascading style
> sheets or manipulate objects in an integrated development
> environment (these things added to forestall the respondents
> who'll say "but wait, there's more to what we do than that!). I
> also sometimes say that I translate "engineer" into "human".
>
> Mike
> --
> Mike Starr WriteStarr Information
> Services
> Technical Writer - Online Help Developer - Website
> developer
> Graphic Designer - Desktop Publisher - MS Office
> Expert
> Phone: (262) 694-1028 - Tollfree: (877) 892-1028 - Fax:(262)
> 697-6334
> Email: mike -at- writestarr -dot- com - Web:
>http://www.writestarr.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
> To: "John Posada" <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com>;
> <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 3:27 PM
> Subject: Re: This too is technical communication
>
>> Same here. The ability to employ technical knowledge and past
>> experience to predict what a "clueless idiot" will and will not
> know,
>> need to know, or be able to comprehend is a level of capability
> that
>> is significantly higher than just being able to think like one.
>>
>> Gene Kim-Eng
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "John Posada" <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com>
>>
>>> I reject this whole "clueless idiot" position.
>>>
>>> Being a professional technical writer means you have the skill
> to
>>> write your document as best as you know how. It has nothing to
> do
>>> with writing a document because you know too much, not enough
> or just
>>> the right amount.
>>>
>>> It also means that you know how to get the right information
> from the
>>> subject matter experts. The amount of information you already
> know
>>> has nothing to do it. The skill is an interviewing skill, not
> whether
>>> you are clueless or not.
>>>
>>> Any stance that maintains that the correct technical level of
> the
>>> document is achieved because of any factor other than knowing
> how to
>>> is absurd.
>
>
>
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