Background

Subject: Background
From: Barb Philbrick <barb -dot- philbrick -at- PCOHIO -dot- COM>
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 1994 12:52:00 -0500

JI>should an aspiring
JI>technical writer/educator strive to be more versed on computer
JI>science fundamentals or advanced grammar?

Depends what you're writing about. In some fields, it will be important
that you understand the basics.

In other fields, it might be an asset that you *don't* understand the
basics. I have found this to be true if the user doesn't know or doesn't
care about how something works; he or she just needs to know what to do
to make the darn thing work. For example, an engineer might spend months
developing an effective PID loop for the equipment, but the user only
cares how much to diddle the controls to get it to work right. Someone
with a more technical background might have the tendency to focus on the
details of how it works, instead of how the user can make it work NOW.

JI>Where do you believe that
JI>one's priorities should be placed?

Where your interest are. You won't do well at anything unless you care
about it.

Barb

barb -dot- philbrick -at- pcohio -dot- com
---
~ CMPQwk 1.4 #9107 ~ I never knew lasers could be printed.

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