TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: What is our real area of expertise? From:"Herman Holtz" <h -dot- holtz -at- worldnet -dot- att -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 11 Dec 2000 16:06:12 -0500
Only you can explain you and what you do with any great accuracy. When I
was one of of many working at a desk in a great bull pen of techies working
at desks, I wrote technical manuals out of my ability to analyze circuits,
point to point, from input to output. Still, even then there were many tech
writers whose technical knowledge was not quite up to that challenge, and
they were assigned tech writing jobs that did not require tht deep a
knowl,edge of the technologies involved. It would have been a mistake to
generalize then, and it is probably a mistake to do so today. The challenge
for a manager was mostly to fit the tech writer to the right job and thereby
get the job done. Perhaps it still is, and maybe that
is not widely recognized. There are probably many tech writing profiles
necessary to cover the field, and there is probably no single one that will
satisfy all needs for definitions or job descripions of tech writers or
serve as a defining qualification for all tech writers. Isn't that the case
with writers, engineers, designers, and others, leading us to the necessity
for Engineer #1,Engineer #2, etc or Junior Writer, Journeyman Writer, Senior
Writer, etc? - Herm
>I tell my clients I am an expert in information delivery systems. (I think
> I
> >can safely tell you all that I am actually no more than a student of
> >information delivery systems...) I take technical information from
> documents
> >and from subject matter experts, work it to make it understandable to my
> >audience, and build a delivery system (printed manual, online help info.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY. http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Take XML and Tech Writing courses online! Our instructor-led courses
(4-6 hrs/wk) give you "hands on" experience at your convenience. STC members
get 20% off! http://www.online-learning.com/index.html.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
