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| Anybody can be a good writer with practice and education. Sure, some may
have a
| natural inclination to writing, but that does not mean they are good
technical
| writers.
|
This is really more a philosophical and psychological issue than one of
technical writing, but I do think that practice and education can no more make
a good writer than they can a good mathematician or physicist or pianist or
ballerina or sculptor.
People can become *better* writers through practice and education, but they
will never attain the level of one who has the *gift*.
| The ultimate point of my post was that some "gifts" are more valuable than
| others.
|
On this I of course agree. But I think it's important to remember that
"technical" writing isn't restricted to the computer industry, or even to
scientific subjects. Any writer who can become an expert in *any* subject can
be on an equal footing with regard to the degree of "technical-ness" involved
in his or her job. If I am working at the Division of Employment and Training
for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (which I am) as a "Job Specialist II" --
a euphemism for one who takes unemployment claims over the telephone (Oh, the
irony of it!) -- and I master the subject and all of its intricacies, I become
as valuable to that organization as a writer as is the API documentation
expert or the networking expert is to Microsoft. Maybe more.
If our society, of course, were properly educated, everyone would be able to
write coherently and be trained to produce at least adequate documentation in
all fields. As it is now, the world is filled with horrible documents written
by experts who cannot communicate. I think one of the reasons lawyers wield as
much power as they do is their position as the only profession other than
writing itself that demands a level of excellence that the average person
cannot produce.
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