Re: What Are Writing Skills?

[Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>]

I know an engineer who thinks he's also a great technical writer.  This 
engineer was also a decent bass player, former standup comedian and 
excellent firmware writer.  Since he was a good musician and an 
excellent engineer, he surmised he could be a great at anything, 
including technical writing.  After all, most of the technical writers 
he encountered previously were English majors who took a technical 
writing elective, or journalists in need of better paying jobs, neither 
of which had the detailed technical or engineering background required 
to accurately describe the products he was developing, and he did get a 
"B" in freshman English.  The end result was the engineer wrote and 
edited his own material, published it in print and to the web, and 
nobody used it because it was garbage.  Ironically, it was only after a 
real technical writer joined the company and was able to work his magic, 
did people (management and customers alike) realized that their 
musician/comedian/engineer was nothing more than a hack writer whose 
arrogance didn't match his abilities.  Not all engineers are like this 
one, but then again, not all writers are only interested in pleasing the 
boss.  Some of us, however, are strong enough to show the boss there is 
a better way and as a result of our magic, both the boss and the company 
look better.  Unfortunately, there are other writers who are convinced 
that creating a good piece of work is akin to working on the assembly 
line at the Rouge Plant in Michigan.   Oh well, I guess it takes all 
kinds of people to make this big crazy world keep spinning.



--

Al Geist, Geist Associates
From Concept to Completion
Technical Writing, Online Help Applications, Marketing Collateral, Web 
Design, Award Winning Video, Professional Photography
Office: 505-294-8855

Cell: 505-400-4128
E-mail: al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com <mailto:al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>
URL: www.geistassociates.com

"When the situation is absolutely hopeless, you have nothing to worry 
about."
                        Compliments of The Monkey Wrench Gang



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