Re: TW Classifications

[Guy Oliver <guy -at- DEV -dot- TIVOLI -dot- COM>]

> Guy Oliver sed:
> > >> I suspect, however, that the professional growth
> > of a technical writer significantly diminishes after 10 years of
> > experience. ...<<
> So I sed:
> >>>> No, darlin', you keep growing or you turn into petrified wood. ...


> Here's the heart of the problem:  I do not believe you understand what most
> people mean by "professional development." ...

My apologies.  I used the term "professional development" in a very
narrow context -- a person's ability to research technical information,
assimilate that information, and clearly communicate it through some
medium such as a a technical manual.

When people take a professional attitude to their work, they most
certainly *do* continue to develop new skills and use their current
skills more efficiently.  This very dialog contributes to my
professional development because I am learning what other experienced
writers like you think about how we learn (or have learned) to do the
core job of technical writing.  I believe that this information, and a
lot of other information about technical writers and our craft, could
be very useful to to business, technical, and marketing managers.

> I wouldn't be carrying on this discussion on the Internet.

I'm new to this bulletin board (I've been subscribing for about one
week), but if you mean that this subject seems inappropriate, I am
forced to wonder why you feel that way, considering the other topics
that have recently been posted here.

I believe most of the information that has been posted about serif
fonts has been available for at least 10 years.  Nobody is ever going
to be able to answer the question: "is a P.C. better than a Mac'?"
There is no definitive answer to the question of which particular mix
of education and experience produces a good technical writer.  Erotic
asphyxiation is interesting, and I enjoyed the humor, but it is quite
unrelated to the subject of technical writing.

It may be that many of the subscribers find the topic I chose as my
first posting to be unintersting; but there was an invitation to post
an opinion about the subject (Paul Sholar to Steven J. Owens -
4/11/95).  I again offer my apologies if this thread is uninteresting
to most subscribers.

> Finally, as to what I can do "better" than I could with only ten years
> experience, the answer is EVERYTHING -- except running and going down stairs,
> since I destroyed a knee in the interim ... ;-)

> sue stewart
> suepstewrt -at- aol -dot- com


This is good news I suppose.  Thanks for sharing with me and the rest
of us some of what you've learned in this business during your time in
it.

Guy