Fwd: Technical Writing - What's the catch?

[Rahul Prabhakar <prabhakar -dot- rahul -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Forwarding this message on behalf of Sue Gallagher.

______________________________________________________
Rahul,
I just replied to you and I think I forgot to include the
list in my response. I did mean for the response to be
public, so if I have indeed forgotten to include techwr-l
(and this interface does not save a copy of my outgoing
messages) would you please forward it to the list with
my appologies.

Thanks!
-Sue Gallagher


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Susan W. Gallagher <sgallagher5 -at- cox -dot- net>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 13:15:48 -0500
Subject: Re: Technical Writing - What's the catch?
To: Rahul Prabhakar <prabhakar -dot- rahul -at- gmail -dot- com>


Rahul,

I appreciate your sentiment and your problems. I'd like to
offer some insight from the other side of the planet, if I
may.

First, recognize that -from here-, the jobs that are going
over there are the ones in which saving a buck is more
important than producing a quality product. Sad but true.
If a company cared about its documentation more than its
bottom line, the work would not be outsourced to you in the
first place, so what you are seeing are probably the worst
employment conditions that the profession has to offer.

Now, please recognize that I am not in any way disparaging
the technical writers in India as a group or you in particular.
But the simple truth is that work from the states is not
outsourced to India because it adds quality, just because
it saves money.

So, when you try to make improvements to the documentation,
you are twarted by the lack of interest, lack of concern,
and the unwillingness to spend of the project management. It
can't be a good situation to be in, and I sympathise. I
wouldn't want to be in your situation.

I'm not sure what the answer is. I know that Guru K. has
been working dilligently for at least a decade to organize
and improve technical writing in India and I respect his
efforts. But I'm afraid that your (and his) efforts will
come back to bite you in the butt <g> because, as the
technical writers in India improve and grow and become more
talented, and thus more expensive, the industry misers
may just pick up and take their projects elsewhere - to
various South Asian countries where the writing is not as
good but the salaries are lower.

One final comment on your writing, if I may. No, it does not
suck. It is decidedly non-native, however, and in your
efforts to expand your vocabulary, you've come very close
to using words correctly but miss the mark despite your
best efforts. I'd recommend that you attempt to simplify
your writing. All those big words are not really necessary.
And you'd do well to keep a link to an online dictionary
active and use it frequently, which is something I do myself
despite the fact that I have been speaking this language with
varying amounts of success for more than 50 years. <g>

My two cents.
-Sue Gallagher

>
> From: Rahul Prabhakar <prabhakar -dot- rahul -at- gmail -dot- com>

> Hi Techwr-l Members
> As a Technical Writer who stands at the epicenter of changing trends
> and technology, I have been subject to several bouts of disarray in
> the recent times...

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