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Subject:RE: Definition of Tech Writer, was STC is broken From:"Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 5 May 2008 01:04:21 -0700
Michael,
What are you referring to as "abstractions"? Are you having trouble with
the premises of my argument or my examples of the different types of
writing.
You haven't stated why it would be pointless to not distinguish technical
writing from business writing. I would never agree that the two are
intertwined in the same project. If that were true, then a business could
hire a proficient, purely technical writer with no business writing
experience to produce a business plan. This is not the case. The
disciplines required for producing a business plan, for example, are
definitely different than those required for technical writing. Also, if
your premise were true, then a proficient business writer with a history of
successful business plans, proposals, and FSRs, could come in and document
an application or system without having any technical writing experience.
This also is not true.
Additionally, I have rarely seen cases where business writing projects were
are part of technical writing projects. When I have seen cases that come
close to this, it is because a business needed a technical writer to produce
content for a particular section of a business document or because an IT
group needed a business document. These non-typical situations do not imply
an intertwining of the two classes of writing.
Lauren
________________________________
From: Michael West [mailto:WestM -at- conwag -dot- com]
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 12:01 AM
To: Lauren; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Definition of Tech Writer, was STC is broken
"Lauren" wrote:
> However, my argument is that technical writing and business
writing are not
> the same. [...]
> My point has always been that the two are different because they
have
> different focuses and different purposes.
It's difficult to deal with abstractions in the manner you propose.
Perhaps we can agree that while they are different categories in principle,
in specific cases they are often intertwined in the same writing project.
While it is sometimes useful to distinguish one type from the other, it is
often pointless to do so.
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