Re: What constitutes a senior tech writer and how to get there?

["Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM>]

Sarah O'Keefe wrote:
>
> In my opinion, a senior technical writer is an individual who can plan and
> execute a writing project without outside assistance. That is, the writer
> can:

<snip>

I'd buy that, with two quibbles:
First, qualify "without outside assistance" to "without outside
writing/tech pubs assistance". That is, you overlooked the source
of the information and the (reasonably high) likelihood that
the senior writer will need to consult with a senior engineer
(or junior engineer, or assembly tech or whatever) to get the content
together.

Second, I'd recast "plan and execute a writing project" as "plan
and execute and deliver a maintainable writing project". Being
able to _deliver_ is top priority, and maintainable is a close second.
That is, if a writer delivers, but when revisions time comes (and
come it will), if the pretty tables are elaborate constructions of
multiple tabs and hand-drawn lines, the product wasn't from a
"senior writer".

MHO,
Eric
BTW, congrats on the Frame for Dummies book!


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Eric J. Ray                  ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com
UNIX Visual QuickStart Guide is "a superb book!"
Don't believe it? Check for yourself!
Find out more at http://www.raycomm.com/

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