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:Reply to: How much do you have to know? From:Tammy Williams <Tammy_Williams -at- OCLC -dot- ORG> Date:Thu, 3 Mar 1994 15:29:48 -0400
CEO comments:
From: Tammy Williams:CEO
Date: ## 03/03/94 15:27 ##
I agree with Steve. You need to KNOW what you're writing about. I
think a technical writer should know enough about her subject to
teach it to the user. If you think about it, a lot of us are
instructors. We are the writers of do-it-yourself documents. Yes,
we write other information, but the bulk of what most technical
writers write is how to information.
Getting back to the original subject--a technical writer has to
know her information. A journalist can get away with
understanding information, but that understanding does not have to be
as deep as the knowledge a technical writer has to have. I'm not
saying that a journalist CAN'T be a technical writer. I am living
proof that a journalist can make the transistion. The key is that
there is a transition.
Tammy Williams
williams -at- oclc -dot- org
Preceeding Message:
From: (Steve Fouts) sfouts -at- ELLISON -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM:smtp
Date: ## 03/03/94 15:12 ##
See document for message.