Re: Technical writing for finance: one for the Friday files

Subject: Re: Technical writing for finance: one for the Friday files
From: Ned Bedinger <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com>
To: Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>
Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 00:09:26 -0700

Geoff Hart wrote:
> Ned Bedinger noted: <<Wow, nice save, Dan! It took me a second to
> grasp the importance of defending our turf against these loosely-
> focused insinuations that jargon and complexity are the key to tech
> writing. There's destructive reductionism lurking out there, in all
> of those alternative career paths where writing, even explanatory
> instructional writing, is featured.>>
>
>
> Also note that jargon does not inevitably mean "words chosen so that
> only the illuminati will understand or words chosen to make the
> speaker sound more important than they really are".

OK, but that's really more of a political cartoon anyway. Let's be serious.

> That's certainly
> one form of jargon; the other kind involves language chosen because
> it communicates efficiently among people working within a genre.

Don't be so hasty to dismiss the social function(s) of jargon.

BTW, what is this genre you mention? Is it an abstract technical
communicator thing?

> We
> speak here on techwr-l of WinHelp vs. WebHelp vs. HTMLHelp not
> because we're trying to exclude anyone (which would be the case if we
> were talking to non-techwhirlers) or sound smarter than we really
> are, but rather because this jargon communicates effectively. Imagine
> if we had to explain the details of what we mean by "help" every time
> we talked about anything related!
>

Good information for an intern, but I'm looking for something a little
more advanced if you're offering technical writing advice.

> <<In an age where everyone seem bent on making a blind stab at
> defining tech writing as a department and a skillset, it seems to me
> very patriotic to repel borders this way.>>
>
> I assume you're being sarcastic,

Boarders, then. But bozos would be more to the point. Repel bozos.

> or perhaps just waving the flag
> without really thinking it through?

You've got your nerve.

> Any definition can be carried to
> extremes, and that's exactly the wrong point to be making. The right
> point to make is that technical communication really is a skillset,
> not exclusively "writing in the computer industry".

Are you crossposting this to other lists? I don't believe we've broached
this subject on techwr-l in a long time. I don't think it applies to me
or anything I've said.

> That's an
> unnecessarily narrow worldview, and while it might be appropriate for
> the specific community that is techwr-l,

Yes, techwr-l occassionally returns to the topic of technical writing,
and software tech writers are active here.

> it's much like the goldfish
> circling his tiny bowl and being amazed at how rich and diverse his
> world is... particularly that cool little castle. <g>
>

"Big hat, no cattle." Let's get back to technical writing.


--Ned
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Follow-Ups:

References:
RE: Technical writing for finance: one for the Friday files: From: Dan Goldstein
Re: Technical writing for finance: one for the Friday files: From: Ned Bedinger
Technical writing for finance: one for the Friday files: From: Geoff Hart

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