RE: Wanted: Dumb Tech-Writer Stories

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

"Mark L. Levinson" <nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il> wrote:

>Well, fine.  I've never understood why tech-writers seem to
>enjoy publicly sneering at incompetence in their own profession
>anyway.  Do the architects publicize lousy architecture?

Well, the goods architects do. Read Frank Lloyd Wright some day
:-)

Of course, sneering alone doesn't make you a good writer. But it
is usually a sign that you care about your work.

Also, let's face it: incompetence, pomposity, and self-importance
are always worth poking fun at and satirizing. Granted, there's a
lot of self importance in high-tech in general, but tech-writers
do seem to have more than their own share of it. Maybe the cause
is having an English degree, or maybe it's early toilet training,
but the self importance is there. Why else do you think "Dilbert"
has the tech-writer always insisting that she is a trained
professional? Obviously, because that's a common perception of
tech-writers.

I suggest that if you are a writer who can laugh at this
portrayal, you have a better chance of avoiding this
self-importance yourself.

--
Bruce Byfield, Publications and Product Strategy, Stormix
Technologies
Vancouver, BC, Canada
bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com or bbyfield -at- stormix -dot- com

"Call me the Deserter: it's true I walked away,
Travelling by starlight, hiding out by day,
Dogs and demarcations kept me on the run,
I got a little blinded, staring at the sun."
- OysterBand, "The Deserter"