TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Tech writers and new STC programs From:Peggy Thomson <Peggy_Thompson -at- CCMAIL -dot- OSTI -dot- GOV> Date:Thu, 24 Aug 1995 11:15:00 -0400
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 10:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: postmaster -at- ADONIS -dot- OSTI -dot- GOV
Subject: Undeliverable mail: Processing failure
To: Peggy_Thompson -at- OSTIPO, postmaster -at- ADONIS -dot- OSTI -dot- GOV
MIME-version: 1.0
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: MULTIPART/MIXED; BOUNDARY="Boundary (ID OPuWRpkuiROBN6Wc98OYlQ)"
--Boundary (ID OPuWRpkuiROBN6Wc98OYlQ)
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN
These addresses were rejected:
rselfe -at- mtu -dot- ed: unknown host or domain: rselfe -at- mtu -dot- ed
--Boundary (ID OPuWRpkuiROBN6Wc98OYlQ)
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN
'Whirlers: don't kill me for posting this. It's germane to us
all, I promise--I couldn't get mail to the person who asked
about integrating new programs into STC re: the
activities-extraneous-to-just-writing that many of us do. (SHE'S
ON THE SOAP BOX AGAIN!!!)
***
You said it: tech writers are being asked to do more than just
write. At my place, the writers are getting more involved in
system testing and interface design--in a nilly-willy way, not
anything formal. But the movement is there, and we are striving
to define and strengthen our role.
Further: many tech writers are in one-person or very small shops
and often have no documentation methodologies, standards, or
project plans to work with. They end up having to come up with
these themselves (which is hard work and great fun, but you can
spin your wheels alot without benefit of others' experience).
I strongly believe that tech writers, particularly those in the
software industry, need to be schooled in the following:
- basic software development methodology (the big picture, not
nuts and bolts, to see where they fit in)
- principles of interface design
- principles of hypermedia (many of us are being dragged away
from paper manuals, some gladly, others in a panic)
- documentation project management, particularly the methods of
JoAnn T Hackos, author of Managing Your Documentation Projects,
1993, John Wiley and Sons--her methodology parallels the
software process model developed by Carnegie Mellon's Software
Engineering Institute and is inordinately useful for tech
writers in the software industry AND for writers generally
From what I have observed, the writer who can't follow these movements, who can
"only" write or "only" edit, is going to be obsolete. But the future is wide
open for communicators if we define our roles anew and get trained in some
credible new skills. I'm glad your looking at all this.
