Re: TECHWR-L Digest, Vol 168, Issue 6

[Geoff Mann <geoff -dot- mann -at- uxwordsense -dot- com>]

Re: fluffing up blogs by rehashing old content and refreshing one's skills,
to spin rehashing a bit further, in the vein of "every page is page one,"
every tech writer has to start somewhere and there isn't any single
resource that conveys everything a new tech writer needs to know to get
started in their specific situation. For the author, regardless of their
motivation for rehashing, I've found it helpful during the last 20 years in
the field to read different people's perspectives on the same subjects. Of
course, that's not to say that all blogs and rehashed posts are helpful to
many or one. ;)

Re: how do we arrive at such tips, I'd like to see a concerted effort to
synthesize relevant principles and practices from related disciplines such
as UX (broadly speaking), ethnography, statistics, and more, particularly
in contexts of research and evaluation. Despite the typical resource
crunches we experience from day to day, as a whole TCers could do more and
be more effective if such pre-vetted knowledge was more accessible and
consolidated. Of course such resources would lack some fidelity when
compared with the originals and we'd risk devolving such resources further
into really broad top-12 lists, but the current spread of resources and
TC-relevant info are so broad (not unlike the TC field I suppose) that it's
somewhat of a barrier to our collective success and evolution. Eh? -- I
look forward to your book, Chris.



On Thu, Oct 17, 2019 at 1:55 AM <techwr-l-request -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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>    1. Re: "15 Tips to Improve Your Technical Writing"
>       (Chris Despopoulos)
>    2. Re: "15 Tips to Improve Your Technical Writing" (Lauren)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2019 11:45:05 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Chris Despopoulos <despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com>
> To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Subject: Re: "15 Tips to Improve Your Technical Writing"
> Message-ID: <37460581 -dot- 1526118 -dot- 1571226305966 -at- mail -dot- yahoo -dot- com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> I agree with Peter...? Nothing new here.?
>
> The problem with just about everything written about technical writing is
> that it's all "How To" documentation.? Specific procedures to address
> specific tasks.? Where's the discussion that tells us how to arrive at
> these 15 tips, or how to evaluate whether they make sense, or how to come
> up with tip #16?
>
> So far the only approach I've seen that is at a higher level is Jim
> Carroll's with minimal manuals.? That's a theoretical approach to
> documenting tasks, specifically (as far as I can tell).? Oh, and "The
> Theory and Practice of Technical Writing" by Samuel Chandler Earle actually
> stands the test of time IMO, even with a date of 1916...? He has an awesome
> concept of a synopsis to criticize and to plan a piece of writing.? Aside
> form that, all I've seen are How-To docs...? Task oriented, if you will.?
>
> I think tech writing suffers for want of a theory.? You can guess that I'm
> working on a book...? I wonder if I started up a blog, would that get any
> attention?? It would be nice to try out some of the ideas.
>
> cud
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2019 14:58:45 -0700
> From: Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: "15 Tips to Improve Your Technical Writing"
> Message-ID: <a346f143-11a7-dd7a-4b73-943522ad1fd4 -at- writeco -dot- net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
> It tells you that people can fluff up blogs by rehashing old content.
> Rehashing is a good skill to revive interest in a subject and rehashed
> content is sometimes good to read to refresh and remember old ideas.
>
> That's a lot of "re's."
>
> On 10/15/2019 7:40 AM, Peter Neilson wrote:
> > On Tue, 15 Oct 2019 08:38:39 -0400, Cardimon, Craig
> > <ccardimon -at- m-s-g -dot- com> wrote:
> >
> >> Found this in my travels on the interwebz. Thought you folks might
> >> enjoy it.
> >>
> >> https://thebestschools.org/magazine/technical-writing-tips/
> >
> > What does it tell us that we did know already? Maybe I overlooked
> > something?
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> End of TECHWR-L Digest, Vol 168, Issue 6
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-- 
Geoff Mann, MLIS
Principal
WordSense Content Services, LLC
uxWordSense.com
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