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RE: He said...She said...He said...etc. (Was Re: What's A TW Got To DO To Get A Job Around Here?!)
Subject:RE: He said...She said...He said...etc. (Was Re: What's A TW Got To DO To Get A Job Around Here?!) From:"Smith, Martin" <martin -dot- smith -at- encorp -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 25 Feb 2002 11:26:18 -0700
At risk of jumping into this again, I once got involved on a technical
writing project where the "technical writer" was documenting a programming
language similar to C used for device control. The writer received content
from the subject matter experts and attempted to clarify the text--to make
the SME's content more palatable. Unfortunately, the technical writer
"corrected" the SME's "grammatical" errors in the source code examples. The
jargon-spewing SME had the nerve to write computer code that contained
keywords not found in the Oxford English Dictionary. The jargon-spewing SME
also neglected to use proper punctuation. All those semicolons that denote
the end of a line in C-like languages. The shame of it! To make matters
worse, this writer complained to the software developers and demanded that
they change the keywords in the language to "proper English." This actually
happened. I'm not kidding.
At risk of repeating myself, if a writer or technical editor does not
understand the content, then he or she has no way of knowing whether or not
their "clarifications" to the SME's content changes the meaning of the text.
Changing keywords, syntax, and punctuation in source code examples will
result in code that will not compile and will not run. Such a writer
contributes nothing to a project and undermines the profession in general.
With all of the posts of late about finding jobs in these tough times,
writers would do well to invest in their technical skills. Take a
programming class, a database class, or some other class relevant to your
industry.
Martin
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