RE : Occupational titles AKA poking the bear with a stick

Subject: RE : Occupational titles AKA poking the bear with a stick
From: Yves JEAUROND <jingting -at- rogers -dot- com>
To: Techwr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 14:09:58 -0500 (EST)

Craig:

A dirty writer may be writing dirt or the cleanest prose :-)
A quick writer takes his time not often.
A technical writer writes in a dry, technical style, avoiding figures of speech and so on...
It's a red herring to make the adjective into the object, the final cause---as Aristotle would say---of the writer.

And screenwriter is one word, not two, so the analogy is quite shaky.
And writers write novels. A "novel writer" would be someone new at writing or writing in a new style perhaps, but a terrible error in syntax and semantics to qualify a writer of novels. You have taken the noun for an adjective.

Regards,

"Cardimon, Craig" <ccardimon -at- M-S-G -dot- com> a écrit :
To further the hornets' nest I stirred up yesterday, salespeople sell
things. People in marketing bring items to the market so they may be
sold. So far, so good.



Writers write. Okay.



Playwrites write plays. Cool.



Documentation writers write documentation. Logical enough.



Novel writers write novels. Good.



Screenwriters "write" movies. Everyone understands that much.



Technical writers write technical. Huh?



When I meet strangers and we give the "what we do" speech, mine elicits
interest - and confusion.



They love the "writer" thing - it sounds cool and romantic -- but then
they go on with why would anyone write "technically" when most people
can't program their home pc or VCR or DVR or microwave? They don't
complain



I have simplified things. In addition to telling people what my list
friend Dori told me, I will add, "As a technical writer, I write
documentation for computer applications and other technical things."



"Technical writer" really needs to be qualified. It amounts to poor
phrasing.



-- Craig





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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
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True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

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References:
Occupational titles AKA poking the bear with a stick: From: Cardimon, Craig

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