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--- David Berg <dberg -at- dmpnet -dot- com> wrote:
> For Pete's sake Andrew, you should know that much of the time TWs can't
> comprehensive understanding of a topic as an SME.
They should. If you're writing about something, you should know what you're
writing about. Otherwise - you're not writing. You're just a text "pretty
upper." (See below.)
> Example: About a year ago, as an internship, I did a *complete* makeover of
> a medical Web site dealing with certain aspects of neurology. I have spent a
> few years in allied healthcare, but I'm not an MD, and certainly not a
> neurologist with a comprehensive knowledge of an obscure corner of that
> specialty. What I knew on the subject came from studying the material I had
> to edit and rewrite, and from the doctor with which I was working
> (long-distance). I had no choice but to lean upon the doctor to answer my
> questions and proofread my work for errors.
>
> In this case, my responsibility was to do the best job that I could, ask
> questions about anything I had any doubts about, and then ask the doctor to
> certify that the content was accurate. It's absurd to suggest, as you do in
> the quote above, that I should have to understand the specialized material
> before I help someone else to communicate a message. This applies to many
> different subject areas other than medicine.
You were not a writer. Positions like yours are sold as writer positions when
in fact (according to your description) you did little if any writing. You just
organized other people's stuff. That's what administrative assistants do.
REAL WRITERS - WRITE. Real writers take nothing and turn it into something.
Real writers pull from their own knowledge and understanding and do not have to
rely 100% on other people to show them the way. Sure, real writers work closely
with SMEs to make sure they're on the right track. But real writers don't need
the SME to bless every last sentence. Real writers can take fragments of ideas
and designs, research them, and then write intelligent documents for an SME to
review.
Just because you can use a desktop publishing tool and make pretty diagrams
does not make you a technical writer. The admin at my office can build
documents in FrameMaker. I don't call her a technical writer. She's an office
manager.
How can you in any way communicate effectively if you don't know the material?
You can't. It is impossible.
Andrew Plato
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