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Subject:Tech writing interviews From:Mona Albano <mab -at- USER -dot- ROSE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 16 Oct 1998 15:07:53 -0400
for people who've never hired a tech writer before...
Just had an interview with people who kept asking, "But where do
you get all those details if nobody writes it for you?" and "What
does a technical writer DO besides make it look pretty?" I spent
most of the time trying to explain THAT instead of why I was
fully qualified for their project. I got the feeling that they were
suspicious that I couldn't possibly have understood, or even collected,
all that technical detail without some engineer pre-writing it for me.
I tried to explain audience analysis, appropriate information,
chunking of information, layout, navigation, readability, and
information-gathering techniques in one easy lesson. Whew!
I don't know if I got through to them. Any suggestions
as to what I should have said?
-- Mona
Mona Albano mab -at- user -dot- rose -dot- com
Technical Writer & Editor Voice 416 469-1384
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA Fax 416 469-1720
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