TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Who dreams up these things? From:"Tim Altom" <taltom -at- simplywritten -dot- com> To:"Ed Gregory" <edgregory -at- home -dot- com>, "TechDoc List" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:03:10 -0500
I don't know how you'd have any sort of credentialing process that would be
accepted, at least until certification becomes a reality. Long-time
participants on this list know my views on that subject.
But as to the process, we at Simply Written believe that it's preferable to
have a strongly structured document with rotten content, than to have a
mediocre document with weak structure and barely passable content. With
strong structure, a document can be quicky rewritten and reissued. Without
it, a document is a sagging sack, with no convenient handles. With a strong
structure, multiple writers can work easily on one parent document. That's
what the Clustar Method is designed for: structure. Strong structure permits
great longevity, as the document passes from hand to hand, generation to
generation. If the content is incorrect, that's easy to fix. But a document
with poor structure requires many times more work.
Tim Altom
Simply Written, Inc.
Featuring FrameMaker and the Clustar Method(TM)
"Better communication is a service to mankind."
317.562.9298 http://www.simplywritten.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Ed Gregory <edgregory -at- home -dot- com>
To: Tim Altom <taltom -at- simplywritten -dot- com>; <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 1999 10:03 AM
Subject: Re: Who dreams up these things?
>Anybody who believes they should be permitted to write technical
>documentation because they like to write or because have a B.A. in English
>is mistaken. The same is true for the person who believes that becoming a
>master of the Clustar method (or any other flavor) makes them the perfect
>documentationist.
>
>We can examine great writing and find the patterns that exist within.
>However, it is not only those patterns that make the writing good. It is
>also the ability of the writer to write. It is not the map that we
>remember, but the journey. I'd rather take a few wrong turns while riding
>in a Lincoln than get there without a misstep while sitting in the back
>seat of a Yugo.
