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Hi, all.
I?ve been lurking on this list for a short time, a week or so. The prime topic has been the worth of technical writing (writers), followed by ?when should I use it?s or its.? Sheesh!
The replies to Mr. Plato (author of the original incendiary email) have lent authority, unfortunately, to his view that the practitioners of our art are a brittle tribe. ?I?m component, I?m good, I?m liked, I?m esteemed? ran most of them.
I assume Mr. Plato was deliberately trying to stir things up here. Kind of like going down to the Republican Club and telling them they?re a bunch of buffoons, and nothing like us -- objective Democrats. Or vice versa. If this list needs a gentle stir now and then -- bring it on!
But too many replies took his bait. Mr. Plato had just two points: 1-HE left our profession (another failed TW, alas); 2-He?s become an ENGINEER. And incidentally, he?s interviewed many many many incompetent TW?s. Pretending to wrap these self-serving points in a highfalutin discussion about our profession just won?t fly ? I don?t buy it. I myself have enough engineer stories to fill a book or two. I can?t count the number of failed engineers I?ve had to interview for TECH WRITING spots.
Some things are not worth discussing, among them is whether or not technical writing is a worthy profession. After you?ve been doing this for a while you know that some clients DO NOT esteem this profession. So what? Others do. Some do not value education or training. So what? Tons of businesses are run by people who a not insightful, creative, inventive, etc. and fail every day. So what? People esteem what they do, what they know and are anxious to find reasons to dismiss what they don?t know. This is a commonplace.
Within projects that consider our profession integral plenty of tough issues arise. Let?s stick to them, shall we?
Does this scenario sound familiar? You?re well within the project lifecycle, in fact testing ? a major project milestone -- starts next week. However, because of deadline pressures, unreasonable client expectations, and the ITERATIVE ;-) nature of the project lifecycle coding will continue right up to the minute the project is turned over to the testers. The project?s sacrosanct PROJECT PLAN calls for the documentation to accompany the system into testing. Any problems? Your answer is ?HA! HA! HA! Problems? Listen, technical writing workdays are 60 hours, not the mere 24 for engineers. Problems ? ha!? This IS your answer, of course, and the entire scenario is trivial and not worth bringing up. But what do you do when the project moves into the POLITICAL ZONE. When all project discussions revolve around what the project will BECOME, not what it IS? After a project evolves and develops cracks and fissures this is a deadly serious issue. Jobs and careers are on the line, and not just your own.
What do you do when asked to write about how a system WILL EVENTUALLY behave while ignoring what is actually does. Remember, the person asking you (an engineer or manager) has their job, and possibly an entire team?s or group?s, on the line.
