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: Breaking into the tech writing job market From:John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:Peter Neilson <neilson -at- alltel -dot- net>, Mike Schmidt <mschmidt -at- weathercentral -dot- tv> Date:Tue, 8 Aug 2006 14:53:57 -0700 (PDT)
Here we go again with the "ignorance is desired" argument and I don't
buy it, not one second. It's an excuse to justify not being skilled.
> > I use my lack of expertise on a product to help. I
> > figure that if I can understand it, I can make others
> > understand it. Others who also might not hold degrees
> > in the field. Right now, it's TV weathermen and women.
> > They're not necessarily computer literate, so my
> > directions (and my lack of weather knowledge) are basic,
> > easy to understand, and user friendly.
>
> Yes, yes, yes! When tech writers were hard to find and we
> were building them out of clay, this was one of the best
> things about the naive writer. We found it was better to
No, no, no!
Lack of skill makes a good technical writer? Hogwash. A good
technical writer is one who can intentionaly put themselves in ANY
level and write to that level. If you are an expereinced technical
writer who cannot write for the novice user, then you aren't a
skilled writer...you're one-dimensional and you are a "bad document
waiting to happen" writer.
OTOH, I'll take a super-experienced writer who knows how to put
themself in the place of the the novice user and INTENTIONALY write
to that level over a novice writer who can only write that way
because they don't know any better.
An experienced writer knows the pitfalls that a novice will
experience and can guide that novice user through the pitfalls...not
blunder along with them.
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
"I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Easily create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to any popular Help file format or printed documentation. Learn more at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot-
