"Know thy audience"; was: RE: What is "well Written"?

[John Posada]

> predictors of actual perfomance in the field.  The fact that
> most technical documentation (and often the products
> being documented as well) are not subjected to these tests 
> and instead is thrown out into the field untested to sink 
> or swim does not make it "art."

Couldn't have said it better, and in fact, I object to calling what
we do as an "art", and I finally heard someone in aother field
express it better than I could. It was an interview with a famous
chef named Andre Soltner, formerly the Chief Chef of Lutece for 30
yars, one of the top restaurants in the world (or at least it used to
be, it's closed now).

Anyway, someone refered to him as an artist and he object with the
following explaination. An artist will get inspired and create a work
of art. He then starts his next project and he doesn't like it, so he
puts it away for weeks, months, or years. He then pulls it out and
maybe works on it, maybe throws it out.

An artist produces based on inspiration and is not consistant.

Instead, he wantd to be known as a craftman. A craftman, as a chef,
needs to be ready twice a day, evey day. He cannot pick when to be
"on" and when not to be.

A craftman produces based on skill, process, training, and must be
able to replicate the same level of skill every time.

John Posada
Senior Technical Writer

"They say everyone needs goals. Mine is to live forever.
So far, so good."