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Subject:Re: Tech Writers that can't write a Resume From:Karen Mayer <Karen_Mayer -dot- TOUCH_TECHNOLOGY -at- NOTES -dot- COMPUSERVE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 1 Dec 1995 17:31:31 EST
Perhaps I am not as good a writer as you are, perhaps I specialize too
much, but I am much better at writing documentation for computer stuff
than I am at writing newspaper articles, marketing brochures, resumes and
other such things. I am even better at tech writing than I am at writing
fiction, to my utter dismay! Computer programmers have a greater
proficiency at a few types of tasks (say, C++) than for others (say,
assembly language). Being a writer is much the same. I know some people
who could write circles around me in the marketing department, yet could
not begin to conceptualize, let alone write, a 350-page technical
reference manual.
I don't believe a good writer is necessarily the best at everything. I
still retain enough humility to concede that perhaps some writers excel
where I do not, and I will gladly leave that writing to them. (I think
this attitude also makes for a more cooperative team environment among
writers who write the same basic types of materials.)
-- karen mayer
Tracy writes:
Sanford, if I understand you correctly, you're saying that if technical
writers should be able to write resumes, then programmers should
be able to write documentation. I have to disagree. You're talking
about two entirely different types of expertise now.
Professional programmers/software developers/system designers/coders
etc. are *not* automatically good writers. You can be an excellent
programmer and still not be much of a writer, whether it's documentation
or a resume. But if I call myself a professional *writer* I should be
able to write a resume.
