Re: Expectations (possible rant - it IS Friday!)

[Tony Markos <ajmarkos -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

--- Robyn Richards <robynrrr -at- hotmail -dot- com> wrote:

How do you get across the fact that Technical Writing
is a profession and not just "the ability to write"?.
 
Tony Markos responds:

By deemphasizing the "ability to write" thing.  We
TW's are just like engineers, testers, etc. in that we
need to analyze, design, and THEN implement.  

We implement by writing text.  Developers implement by
coding.  True professional developers emphasize their
analysis and design skills - not their coding skills. 
They know that the ability to perform rigorous
analysis and design is how true professionalism in
their trade is demonstrated - including the ability to
postpone the natural human tendency to want to get
"hands-on" as quick as possible.   

So why do we TW's put top emphasis writing skills? 
When we do such, we are telling others that we are
focused on being implementors, and they can not help
but thing of us a being less than professional.  




		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. 
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo:
http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help 7.5 Professional: New version with new features, improved performance and reliability, plus much more!  Download your free trial today at www.componentone.com/techwrlfeb.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.