TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Technical communication under the gun From:"John Posada" <jposada99 -at- gmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:02:55 -0400
On 8/28/08, Downing, David <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com> wrote:
> Yes, but I was the technical communicator on the team.
So?
I've seen this expressed before in different forms, including, in
effect, "I was driving from point A to point B and I got lost. How can
I get lost? I'm a technical writer!"
What makes us, as technical writers, the expert in everything?
Is that along the lines of since writing recipes is like technical
writing, we should all be gourmet chefs?
This is an issue. It makes others, when dealing with us, feel
trivialized because many writers approach SMEs with the opinion that
we're as expert as they are and they then shutdown on us.
Guys...we are only technical writers. We use some skills and some
techniques to take information and deliver it in a clearer way, making
it easier to understand and implement. That's all we do.
--
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
NYMetro STC President
'Half this game is ninety percent mental.'
-- Danny Ozark, Philadelphia Phillies manager
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial. http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
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
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
