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Subject:RE: Help - my consultants cannot write! From:"Dan Goldstein" <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 6 Oct 2011 16:59:51 -0400
November 2004, but who's counting? Welcome back, Plato!
Irony appreciated, and I agree with the others that it would be cheaper
to hire a writer than a teacher. The interview process would be insanely
simple: Hand the job candidate one of your consultants' reports and come
back 30 minutes later. If the result isn't clear, concise, correct, and
complete, then bring in the next candidate. Rinse and repeat as needed.
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Plato
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 4:28 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Help - my consultants cannot write!
It's been easily 10 years since I posted anything to TECHWR-L. I miss
those blathering posts from the last century.
Okay, I have a real reason for being here. And some of you will probably
appreciate the irony of this.
I own Anitian Enterprise Security - a security consultancy. I was a tech
writer in the 90s, spent plenty of time here barfing out my opinions.
Search the archives. Lots of frothing from me and others.
I am in desperate need of tech writer training for my consultants. I
have a bunch of information security consultants who cannot write. It's
infuriating. I edit their material and I want to wring their necks.
They blather and yammer on about this and that - I need to teach these
people how to succinctly express complex ideas and write reports.
So, my question is:
- Anybody have any suggestions for training courses, materials, or
guides I can use to teach these people how to write?
- And if there isn't anything good out there, who could develop such a
program...relatively inexpensively?
Ideally, I'd like some program or class or something I could send my
consultants through that at the end of it, they would be able to
write...better. My problem is, I don't want to send them to some
community college writing class. I need something that specifically is
focused on complex report writing.
I was going to develop this material myself, but I am just too busy.
I call upon the great TECHWR-L for ideas, guidance, and insight.
Oh, and stop eating hamsters.
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