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Subject:Re: Can strong process create writers? From:"Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 10 Nov 1998 10:14:50 -0700
At 10:32 AM 11/10/98 -0600, Laurel Nelson wrote:
>Whether or not a strong documentation process can create a technical writer
>is secondary to this question: Who is going to train this potential writer?
>The topic of on-the-job tech writing training has been discussed at length
>on this list, and everytime it is, I think the same question: Who is going
>to train this person?
And that's a very good question. The points you made (that
I snipped) were all right on target.
In my experience, management must understand that a
senior-level writer can either effectively train a novice
writer, or do the regularly-scheduled job, but not do both
well (assuming a mere mortal with the normal number of hours
in a week).
Depending on the writer and the organization, a
lack of training can be a temporary inconvenience for
all concerned, or fatal for the project, the writer, or
even for the tech pubs group.
Eric
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Eric J. Ray RayComm, Inc. http://www.raycomm.com/ ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com
*Award-winning author of several popular computer books
*Syndicated columnist: Rays on Computing
*Technology Department Editor, _Technical Communication_
