Re: Tech Writers who don't like technology

Subject: Re: Tech Writers who don't like technology
From: "Tony G. Rocco" <trocco -at- NAVIS -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 10:55:21 -0800

This assumes that tech writing has a very narrow focus, on things
scientific. I write about GUI computer software, so I don't see the
connection with Science News or Scientific American. I actually don't have
an interest in science, Rene. So what? I document Macintosh software apps,
I don't describe chemical processes or report on medical research.

As tech writers, we don't have to fit one mold. It's a big, somewhat
amorphous profession and people can find their own niche within it, IMHO.

- tgr

PS: I am not sure anyone on this list said that they did not like
technology. I know that some people, including myself, said that we are not
primarily technical people, i.e., engineers and programmers. There's a
difference between not being a technical person and not liking technology.

At 8:51 AM -0500 5/11/98, Rene Gedaly wrote:


> What surprises me most about the non-technical tech writers I've met is that
> they don't seem interested in the scientific world, they don't want to be
> bothered learning new technology aside from their own communication tools,
> and they're even ignorant of the scientific method. I've yet to meet another
> writer who reads or subscribes to Science News, Scientific American, or
> any(!) technical journal as either a way to keep up in the industry or for
> sheer pleasure. I really hope this is because I don't get out much.
>
> Some of the finest technical communicators have been scientists. And while
> we can't all be Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, or John Gribbin (a PhD
> astrophysicist turned writer--see his "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat (and
> Kittens)" if you want to understand quantum mechanics)...I think a genuine
> interest in our subject matter will take us, as writers, a long way.
>
> Rene Gedaly rgedaly -at- msn -dot- com
> Single Source Documents
> P.O. Box 130639
> The Woodlands, TX 77393
> office: 281 363-4563
>




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