Inquiry into the nature of technical writing

[Larry Allingham <lawrena9 -at- IDT -dot- NET>]

I recently subscribed to this list as part of a broader effort to educate
myself on the craft of technical writing.  I began my career as an
electrical engineer and have spent the past eleven years running the
American subsidiary of a small, but quite successful French firm that builds
flexible manufacturing systems.  For a variety of reasons, I've been
thinking about a career change - the second act famously found absent in
American lives - and have recently centered on technical writing as a
possible means of allowing vocation and avocation to blend.  I find the
postings to this list both instructional and puzzling in my attempt to
assess my own suitability for the technical writing profession.  Although I
understand that the software business is the hotbed of employment for
technical writers, I must confess that as an outsider looking in, it is
difficult to determine the relative importance of writing skills vs.
computer literacy in the profile of a good technical writer.  I was
therefore pleased to gather from Beth Vollbach's posting and the comments it
sparked that the issue of "content" vs. "technique" is one of concern.

I would appreciate further discussion and comments on this issue as well as
responses to the following questions:

* What other areas engage technical writers besides user documentation and
on-line help for software products?
* Are there subsets of the technical writing discipline in which mastery of
technical concepts is essential to writing effectively about them?
* To what extent would engineering and business experience offset ignorance
of specific software tools in the eyes of an employer seeking a technical
writer?
* Is there a market for technical translation? (French to English is of
specific interest to me)


Thanks,

Larry Allingham
lawrena9 -at- mail -dot- idt -dot- net


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