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I groove on getting into new technology too - as a techwriter at a company
that writes software for satellite earthstations, there is plenty of new
stuff flying around to read and write about. But I can see how easy it is
to stress out - no sooner than you feel you have a concept firmly in hand,
either it is already obsolete or the ^*@&#^*#^ engineers have already
tweaked it into a totally different species. Not only are the topics we
write about moving along at light speed, but the resources we use to produce
material are evolving as well. At our company, I am so busy trying to write
test plans and custom manuals for our projects that there is no time to plan
out a move to online doc - can you believe that it 1997 we don't do any docs
in an electric format? Not because we don't want to, but because we just
don't have the time to get the process up and running. THAT is the scary
part - getting so far behind that it seems like we will never catch up.
I am far from scared of doing it - I am even trying to squeeze in study for
the MCSE - but I need 48 hours in a day...
-----Original Message-----
From: Katherin King <kking -at- BROOKTROUT -dot- COM>
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Date: Friday, December 12, 1997 9:53 AM
Subject: Technophobia/Information Anxiety
>I've never heard of "information anxiety" in technical writing. You talk
>about "the sheer stress of playing 'catch-up' with advancing
>technology," but I would think that part of the reason tech writers love
>what they do is because it gives them the opportunity to learn new
>things, new technology. Someone who didn't totally enjoy learning, who
>didn't enjoy the challenge of staying on the cutting edge probably
>shouldn't be in tech writing. At least that's been my experience and I
>would like to hear what others have to say.
>
>Kathy Stanzler
>Technical Writer
>Kking -at- brooktrout -dot- com
>
>http://www.documentation.com/, or http://www.dejanews.com/
>
>
