Re: I'm taking my marbles and going home...
> You're being obtuse.
No, I was responding to what you actually wrote. However, you clarified what you meant, so thanks..
Finally, how can too much knowledge be a hindrance? You don't write API
documentation for clerical staff.
Again, I didn't say that.
Actually, you did:
"Sure, you're going to need some basic understanding of
technologies and practices, but no where near the depth to which an actual programmer would. In fact, that can be a hindrance."
But, again, thanks for the clarification.
(BTW - I introduced clerical staff as the polar opposite of an audience of programmers.The point is, of course, that if you make assumptions of knowledge in an API document, the chances are that those assumptions are valid for your audience).
I said that years of doing the same thing puts
you at an experience level on that subject where it is impossible to
identify with someone new to the technology.
I disagree with that "impossible." Good tech-writers need to be able to anticipate the needs of new users. That can be done by usability testing of documentation, but it can also be done to a large extent by the right combination of intelligence and imagination. In fact, given that many companies don't do any sort of usability testing for documentation, usually that empathic ability is all that you have to work with.
I've found that there are as many ways to write as there are writers, so if
your way works for you, that's wonderful. But if you believe that your way
is the only way, I've got some communist manifestos you might be interested
in. :)
As opposed to the open-mindedness of doctrinaire conservatives, right? ;-)
But it's not just a matter of individual quirks (although I have those to spare). What I'm really saying is that you need to understand the content to write well. No matter what your quirks, I don't see any way around that necessity. If you muddle through without a reasonable understanding, you can produce something, and it might even be considered acceptable by your employer or clients - but it won't be as useful as equivalent work done with understanding.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
"A story untold could be the one that kills you."
- Pat Conroy, "Beach Music"
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