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.
> What does a proponent of the "you need to be an expert before you write a
> single word" school do in that circumstance? Refuse? Quit? Do you ONLY
> accept work that falls within your expertise? In this market, I don't feel
> I have that option.
You're missing the point Keith. You don't need to be an full-blown expert, you
need to possess expertise. Big difference.
And when you posses expertise in one area, it often translates into other
areas. If a person approached me and said, "write a document on fluid dynamics"
I would not consider myself qualified to do that. If they hired me to do that,
it would be a dumb thing, since I know nothing of fluid dynamics. That is why
those looking to enter tech writing need to consider very carefully what
technical skills they acquire as some are more valuable than others.
Now, if all they wanted was an editor to "pretty up" documents, then sure.
Anybody can do that.
> Note that I'm writing from the standpoint of an employee, not a contractor
> - meaning I already took the job, and got a curve thrown at me sometime
> after starting in that position. I'm not talking about trying to pick up a
> quick contract writing about nuclear reactors armed only with my knowledge
> of Homer Simpson cartoons. I'm talking about being asked to change hats
> unexpectedly, or at least add hats to my wardrobe. It's happened in every
> tech writing job I've had. Is it just me?
Again, if you have some expertise, then you can translate that into other
areas. People who know C++ can translate that technical skill into writing
about Java. Sure, totally different languages, but fundamentally its the same
kind of thing. Programming.
Andrew Plato
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/
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.
