RE: Am I qualified to be a Technical Writer based on my knowledge ---?

["Nutting, John" <JNutting -at- taylor-hobson -dot- com>]

Andrew Plato wrote.

"Thus, software writers should have software development experience,
biotechnology writers should have biology experience/education,
telecommunications writers should....you get the idea."

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!  The closer you are to the coal
face, the less you can see.  Having software development or any expertise
can (NOTICE not will!) put you in the position of making assumptions based
on your knowledge that could leave your reader stranded.  You have to have
the ability to forget what you know and write objectively on what you see in
front of you.  You have to understand your reader's needs and get inside
their head.  You need to appreciate their needs and know how to give them
what they need.  You have to be able to ask questions effectively to get the
information you need.  A good writer is only as good as the questions they
ask.  The "I am an expert" philosophy can lead to assumptions being made and
you missing something.  Result, you are left with a document/help file that
doesn't hang together or misses the point.  There are excellent Sports
writer's who have never played the sport that they write about, what makes
them good writers is that they watch, they listen, they ask good questions
and they understand their reader.  A good writer can write about ANYTHING
providing they get their hands dirty, know their audience, throw out what
they know and start at the bottom and ask questions....you get the idea.

John Posada wrote. 

"Can you document a 50 seat corporate SAP R/3 installation with compliance
to
GAAP?"

Yes, if the need arose and the money was good (vbg>.  Seriously though, yes
I could and I believe any good writer could do the job well if they applied
themselves to the task correctly.  Clever terminolgy and use of
abbreviations/acronyms and the likes means nothing.  Could I find out about
and understand the implications to my user of 'compliance to GAAP'?  Sure I
could!  Could I get get inside the '50 seat corporate SAP R/3 installation'?
Sure I could!

I've said my bit, two cents, half a sixpence, twopence and now i am going
home.

John



DISCLAIMER: This message may contain privileged and confidential
information. If you think for any reason this message has been addressed in
error you must not copy or disseminate it and we would ask you to notify us
immediately by return email to postmaster -at- taylor-hobson -dot- com -dot-  Internet emails
are not necessarily secure. Taylor Hobson Holdings plc is the holding
company for the Taylor Hobson group of companies and is registered in
England No. 3230332, with its address at 2 New Star Road, Leicester, LE4
9JQ, England. 



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 

LAST CHANCE for this steal of a deal! Purchase RoboHelp X3 by February 28
and receive $100 mail-in rebate and FREE WebHelp Merge Module ($339 value)!
RoboHelp, the Industry Standard in Help Authoring, has won over 55 industry
awards. For more information please visit: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l2.
 

"RoboHelp X3 is simply remarkable." - George Bell, Techno-Vision Systems


---
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.