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: on technical writers From:"Mark L. Levinson" <nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 19 Mar 2002 23:39:54 +0200
Ed writes:
> All writing, when done well, is creative writing.
I don't think so. All writing, when done well,
is good writing and deserves respect. But I
don't think it's disrespectful to point out
the difference between technical writing and
creative writing.
Creative writing is full of indirectness.
Hemingway said, "If you tell it, you've lost it."
In technical writing, you had better tell it or
for sure you've lost it.
T.S. Eliot said that the meaning, in a poem,
is the juicy steak dragged in by the burglar
to distract the watchdog of the mind. In a
manual, our only purpose is to feed that dog.
As technical writers, we ponder and rewrite and
get up and pace and we work just as hard as
creative writers do. But what we're practising
is not creativity because we're pursuing nothing
more than a clear and predetermined goal with
a limited and predetermined set of resources.
What we're practising is not creativity but
problem-solving. And it's nothing to be ashamed
of. It's not a bad thing, it's a good thing.
And it's something that not all creative writers
can do.
Mark L. Levinson
nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PC Magazine gives RoboHelp Office 2002 five stars - a perfect score!
"The ultimate developer's tool for designing help systems. A product
no professional help designer should be without." Check out RoboHelp at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.