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.
The problem with salary inequity (writers receiving less
than engineers) has to do with two things, one of which we
can work to correct.
With apologies to Dr. S:
Thing 1: Everybody thinks (s)he can write I(and take
pictures, another goodie in my ''skill set''). Almost
everyone CAN place pencil to paper and make marks, but this
does not necessarily equate to communicating an idea.
Thing 2: TW is ''overhead''; engineering is a ''profit
center'' (because the value of an engineering effort can be
fairly well nailed down in money terms).
We can (try to) do something about Thing 2 by pushing to
make the writers part of a P&L group ... make certain the
documentation costs are included in the product costs and
that all documentation is part of the product's parts
''tree'' (hard to do with s/w, but ...); convince mgt. to
sell supplemental copies of the documentation or, if you
work for a company that provides onkly On-Line Help (OLH),
try to convince it to offer for sale paper documentation.
(Course it better be GOOD documentation.)
We may never convince the powers-that-be that it takes more
than pencil & paper to be a ''riter,'' be I think we should
be pushing to be seen as a P&L.
For those keeping track of the alphabet soup, P&L=profit &
loss, s/w=software.
And FWIW, some writers CAN create a circuit and some writers
CAN keep some engineeers (who listen) out of trouble ...
like the engineer who ''forgot'' to include a system ground.
This scrivener suggested the ground was necessary; engineer
said no. Trainer got zapped while doing a show-&-tell; the
system got a redesign the next day. Trainer was OK.
Apologies for fat-finger typos ... bandaged digit.
John Glenn <sfarmh1 -at- scfn -dot- thpl -dot- lib -dot- fl -dot- us>
====================================================
...do not make a statement that cannot be easily
understood on the grounds that it will be understood
eventually. (Hillel)
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
