Re: Skills

[Wayne Douglass <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM>]

At 08:31 AM 7/23/97 -0400, Candace Bamber wrote:

>Personally, I learned more about writing in general and
>technical communication in particular when I was
>TEACHING first year english (Composition and Literature, and Business
>and Technical Communication) than I ever did as a student in any class or
>course, or in any other "on the job" experience (I had about 4 years
>experience as a TC went I started my Masters.).
>I had to figure out how it  REALLY
>worked and what I really knew and didn't know so I could explain it to
>others.

The irony concerning the bromides we have dispensed as composition teachers
(use the active voice and blah, blah, blah) is that they *really are* good
advice, but we don't realize it until they have got us out of a jam. I don't
know how many times I have wrestled with a paragraph only to discover after
I have rewritten it to my satisfaction that I have applied some
tried-and-true Freshman Comp principle.

--Wayne
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Wayne Douglass        phone: 408-542-2139
Verity, Inc.            FAX: 408-542-2040
894 Ross Road        mailto:wayned -at- verity -dot- com
Sunnyvale, CA 94089    http://www.verity.com
    "Connecting People With Information"
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