Re: This too is technical communication

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

I think there are quite a few people who think that writers are 
"non-knowledgeable persons," usually because of past experiences 
with writers who were.  That is why I recommend that writers
present themselves not as people who somehow simulate users'
ignorance, but as people who are knowledgeable about the extent
of users' ignorance and how to remediate it.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lauren" <lt34 -at- csus -dot- edu>
> Why are you introducing "false pretenses"?  False pretenses was never stated
> nor implied.  Nobody will think that a writer is an non-knowledgeable
> person, but the technical writer must approach information gathering without
> the bias of knowledge of the subject.  Here's an ultra-simplified
> explanation.   Technical writers need to acquire knowledge about a subject
> from the position of someone that does not know that subject.  That is not a
> false pretense.

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