Re: Arguments not to use

[Michael LaTorra <mikel -at- ACCUGRAPH -dot- COM>]

In response to my posting, in which I made the point that we sell
ourselves short by portraying tech writers as cheap substitutes
for engineers (who are presumed -- falsely -- to be capable of
writing better documentation but at higher cost), Bonni wrote to
disagree.  Her company, Manual Labor, specializes in writing
documentation.  And she uses this argument quite successfully:

>"Many developers look at documentation as a waste of their time. In a way,
>they're right -- writing documentation IS a waste of a programmer or software
>engineer's time."

In the context of Bonni's business, this kind of argument proves
its worth by getting her work.  That's certainly OK with me.  But
my concern arises with regard to the internal corporate documentation
department, where we are continually under the gun to justify our
existence.  When my boss wants to know why we need so many tech writers,
I don't want to say "Because we're cheaper than engineers".  That's not
only demeaning, it's misleading.  As Bonni said in her posting, we
could write code and the programmers/engineers could do the documentation,
but the end result would not be as good.  The point is this:  We are
specialists in communicating technical information.  We can create
better documentation than most programmers/engineers can.  And to the
degree that we provide our customers with usable, accurate, and complete
documentation, we make those customers happy, and therefore more likely
to buy from us again in the future.  We add value that goes to the bottom
line.

Now if a tech writing contractor wants to emphasize cost savings in order
to land a job, I have no objection.  But in the long run, that tech writer
will only get repeat business if he or she also provides unique value that
most programmers/engineers cannot.  So say whatever (true, honest) things
you must to land that job.  But give your employer reasons to see you as
more than "cheap" labor.


Live long & prosper,
Mike LaTorra

Documentation Supervisor
Accugraph Inc.
mikel -at- accugraph -dot- com
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