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--- Bonnie Granat <bgranat -at- editors-writers -dot- info> wrote:
>
> What about technical writers who *write* specifications? I know of at least
> one person who does that (a former colleague). Does one need intimate
> knowledge of programming languages to perform that job? I do not qualify for
> most of the jobs I'm seeing advertised currently, but I'm wondering if
> writing specs might be something I could do.
I would say that if you know, or are given a chance to learn, enough about the
systems, processes, industries, and so forth, for which you would be writing
specifications, that, yes, you could write them. I assume, when reading a
spec., that the author knows what she is talking about as far as the system,
architecture, and processes are concerned. Spec. authors may not know how to
write very well--some do and some don't--but they do have a base SME knowledge
to draw on.
What a TW who is not intimately versed in the technical aspects of an area may
bring to the process is clearer, more focused writing. Possibly, you could
start out copyediting specs while you learn the subject matter and gradually
move toward spec writing as you learn the technical foundation you need to be
able to write various specs.
Now that I think about it, in some environments you could write the specs,
because they come from some other document. It depends on what a specific
organization means by specifications.
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