Technical Writer or Documentation Writer?

[Lauren]

"Documentation writer"?  I've been a business plan writer, FSR writer,
proposal writer, business analyst, business letter writer, resume writer,
fincancial report writer, and technical writer.  Technically speaking, all
of those jobs can be under the umbrella "documentation writer," but they are
not all jobs of a technical writer.  A technical writer can prepare other
forms of documentation, but not necessarily all forms of documentation.
"Documentation writer" to me is vague and repetitive.  What other forms of
writers does your business have that do not prepare documents?  Certainly, a
person who prepares reports in Crystal Reports can be called a Crystal
Reports writer, but those people are usually developers.

I wouldn't accept the title "documentation writer."  "Supreme Dictator of
the Documentation Universe," maybe, but not documentation writer.  I am a
"Technical Writer" when my primary job is to prepare documents that focus on
the technical aspects of something, like systems or processes, rather than
the business aspects, like marcom and financial documents. 

Your title should be appropriate for your job.  How varied is the
documentation that you produce?  Are you preparing many types of documents
that are outside the scope of IT?

Lauren

> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lauren=writeco.net at lists.techwr-l.com 
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lauren=writeco.net at lists.techwr-l.com
> ] On Behalf Of Cardimon, Craig
> Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 9:29 AM
> To: Techwr-l
> Subject: Technical Writer or Documentation Writer?
> 
> I've heard myself and what I do here referred to in different ways. 
> 
>  
> 
> Coworkers might not know what a "technical writer" does, but they all
> nod when they hear the word "documentation writer."
> 
>  
> 
> Opinions?
> 
>  
> 
>  -- Craig
> 
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