RE: Definition of Tech Writer, was STC is broken

["Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>]

> From: Fred Ridder

> Ah, but if business writing is a subset of technical writing, 
> Lauren doesn't
> get to charge as high a rate for it because she'd have to 
> wear her humble
> technical writer hat instead of her highfalutin business 
> analyst hat.

Oh, for Heaven's Sake.  Nice that you can be so childish.

To deflect any risk that somebody might think I was trying to insult
technical writers, I'll respond.

My comment is that *I* earn less as a technical writer than a business
analyst.  A technical writer that is a specialist in a field should
certainly earn more than I do as a technical writer and possibly more than I
do as a business analyst.  My technical writing experience is generally
focused on business processes, technology within the scope of business, and
system and user documentation.  If I was inclined to continue a focus in
application engineering, then I would spend more time with technical writing
and my value as a technical writer could exceed my value as a business
analyst.  As it is, my focus is more holistic with respect to business
functions that exist outside of technology. 

> At 
> least after her latest post we finally can see why she has 
> been clinging so 
> adamantly to her idiosyncratic assertion that "business 
> writing and technical 
> writing are mutually exclusive". If there *were* any overlap, 
> it would 
> affect her negatively in the pocketbook, which is clearly 
> unacceptable.

Having written both technical documents and non-technical documents, I can
see that there is a difference between the classes of writing and, in some
cases, there is a bias against technical writing where business analysis is
concerned.  Hiring managers have frequently stated that they do not need
technical writing.  Sometimes, their documentation needs are for technical
writing, although do not realize this fact, and frequently, documentation
must have a broad focus that is not consistent with technical writing.  This
documentation is not technical writing, so what is it?

Lauren



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