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Subject:RE: The Problem with STC From:Doug Grossman <Doug -dot- Grossman -at- sas -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 11 Dec 2000 11:03:54 -0500
It all depends. Some of us are in positions where we must be technical writers, emphasis on the "technical," while others of us must have similar emphasis on "writer." I am the latter, and while I work for a software firm and have a different skill set than the majority of other employees, my "specialized" skill set is still very much appreciated and in demand, because there is a dearth of it, in general. People appreciate and admire what they themselves cannot do. I can't program a line of code; nor do I care to be able to, for the most part. However, I do admire people who can. Most people can't write well, and this mutual respect and admiration works both ways, in my experience.
One must adapt to where one is, and to the specific position that one has. I would never argue that having more technical knowledge would be a bad thing, but depending on one's own specific circumstances, it may be either more or less important than in someone else's situation.
---Doug (Doug -dot- Grossman -at- SAS -dot- com)
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael West [mailto:mike -dot- west -at- oz -dot- quest -dot- com]
Subject: RE: The Problem with STC
Tom Murrell wrote:
But, if you're writing about products that involve networks, doesn't it make sense to actually understand what a network is?
Of course it does. I'd go further: you simply can't write well about a technical subject you don't understand. I would have thought that was a given.
The issue I was sorting out is whether technical knowledge is "infinitely more" important to our craft
than professional-level communications skills. Mr Plato has already graciously admitted to perpetrating a hyperbole in public, and in the spirit of the holidays I'm not inclined to give him a flogging, though I may confiscate his ration of grog if he does it again.
Michael West
Technical Writer
Melbourne, Australia
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