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Subject:RE: Death knell for quality content? From:"Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:39:09 -0700
Michael Ronquillo said:
>If you think of other occupations, it's quite sad
>that the role of a writer can be practiced by virtually anyone.
This concerns me too. When I tell people I write for a living, I often
get replies along the lines of, "Oh really, I am something of a
wordsmith myself; I wrote an article for the Cub Scouts newsletter." Can
you imagine the analogue? To a Ferrari engineer: "Oh really, I am
something of a grease monkey too; I just changed the oil in my Ford
Pinto." To a physician: "Oh really, I am something of a healing arts
practitioner too; I recently gave my dog a suppository for worms." Or
even worse, to the widow: "I am so sorry for your loss. My pet gerbil
just passed away."
Leonard C. Porrello
SoleraTec LLC
www.soleratec.com
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
om] On Behalf Of Ronquillo, Michael
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 7:59 AM
To: hls_ut -at- comcast -dot- net; Lauren; john -at- garisons -dot- com;
techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Death knell for quality content?
I hope that the rise of mediocre writing won't phase the superb writers
out. If you think of other occupations, it's quite sad that the role of
a writer can be practiced by virtually anyone. I certainly hope our
industry won't lose its value and be cheapened.
Michael Ronquillo
Technical Writer - Equitrac
1-800-472-9532 x2334
mronquillo -at- equitrac -dot- com
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+mronquillo=equitrac -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mronquillo=equitrac -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of hls_ut -at- comcast -dot- net
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 11:37 PM
To: Lauren; john -at- garisons -dot- com; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Death knell for quality content?
All this makes me think of annual equipment reviews and
comparisons published in Ski Magazine, Skiing, etc.
In a subsequent issue, a letter to the editor is invariablly
published wherein a reader complains that none of the
reviewers is "regular" person. "How can a regular Joe
like me relate to reviews written by insiders?"
(Regular Joe skis only a handful of weekends a season
and seldom ventures off intermediate groomed trials.
He buys used equipment for his kids and his wife still
uses equipment from 1990.)
The magazines' answers are always--correctly--that a "regular"
person has not developed the ability to perceive and effectively
communicate about the meaningful characteristics of ski
equipment. A "regular" person has much less understanding
of why various performance categories matter and cannot
effectively rate equipment using those catagories to provide a
means of comparsion.
If you want clearly articulated, objective (hopefully) and useful
information, you need to involve people who know what
they're doing. You need SMEs and writers and editors with
appropriate knowledge, vocabulary, grammar, style etc. Anything
else is merely an opinion, which should be viewed with appropriate
skepticism.
--
---------------hls_ut -at- comcast -dot- net
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
> > From: john -at- garisons -dot- com
>
> > Is this really what we are going to start getting? Content is
> > king ... but
> > if people really believe that crappy content is just as good
> > as quality
> > content, we are in a heap of trouble.
>
> I think that what is happening is that people want to see articles
written
> by people like themselves and not articles that seem like they were
written
> by an expert or an outsider looking in. The average person has
average
> writing ability and will make grammatical and other writing errors.
So,
> content that is less than perfect is more palatable and approachable
than
> content that is polished.
>
> It isn't a looming "heap of trouble"; it is a change audience's
perception
> of documentation. Writers will need to adjust their writing styles to
> appeal to the audience that wants informal, familiar documentation.
This
> does not mean that the quality of the content must change, but that
the tone
> of the documentation should change.
>
> Users may accept poor quality now because of its approachability, but
when
> users become educated in the weaknesses of such documentation, they
will
> want quality. The compromise between writers and audiences may be
that
> quality documentation should be approachable to a broad audience, so
it
> should possess some familiarity for that audience.
>
> Lauren
>
>
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Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -dot- com -dot-
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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