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> WADR to Bear's cool Zen approach, tech writers don't manufacture
> knowledge. We acquire it and (if we're lucky) transmit it to other
> people. </nitpick>
I don't acquire any knowledge when I'm documenting something. I compile
facts into something cogent and palatable, and then forget about it. If I
want to know how to do something that I've documented, then I need to read
my own documents. Personally, I wouldn't want many of the jobs that require
using the technologies that I've documented. I still like writing about
them, though, especially when people like their jobs.
Okay, here's a Friday segue. What fairy tale character best typifies your
role in documentation? For me, it's the miller's daughter, later queen, who
is made to spin straw into gold in Rumpelstiltskin. The king will have her
head if she doesn't. Rumpelstiltskin comes to her aid to help, ultimately
in exchange for her first born, unless she can tell him his name. She does.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm spinning straw into gold when I document, but
unlike the girl in the fairytale, I wouldn't marry the king, who seems like
a very nasty character. This, to me, seems similar to my not wanting a
permanent job of spinning straw into gold. Let the king have his gold, I
think I'd rather work with Rumpelstiltskin.
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