Re: Why are companies now requiring techical writer candidates to be SMEs?

[Martha J Davidson <editrix -at- nemasys -dot- com>]

I think "ignorance" has been misused in this discussion. I agree that being 
ignorant of tools and technologies has never served me as a technical writer.

On the other hand, having a new user's perspective as I learn a new 
technology has been immensely valuable. When I apply for jobs documenting a 
technology that I am only peripherally familiar with, this is what I sell. 
The more I pay attention to my own experience learning the software I 
document, the more I can clarify the parts I found confusing when I was 
starting out.

I choose to only document software, with a preference for software 
development tools. What I bring is familiarity with a number of aspects of 
this area of software, though I've seldom been hired to document a tool or 
development process that's exactly like one I've documented before. 
Instead, I start with an understanding of what software developers do and 
experience having done it myself many years ago.

Over the years, I've worked with many different tech writers. The ones who 
were the most successful also had a foundation in software development, 
even if they had never written code themselves. I find that I can often 
tell from reading a chapter written by a writer I don't know well whether 
that writer was familiar with the subject or not. I try to make my 
comprehension of the underlying technology show through everything I write 
and every question I ask of a developer. Otherwise, I'll just be parroting 
words I hear, with no real idea if I'm making sense or not.

To summarize, I agree that ignorance is never a good thing for a tech 
writer to sell in a job search, but the perspective of a neophyte (who 
strives to become a power user) can be a valuable skill, expecially for 
writers who retain that perspective even after becoming power users.

martha


--
Martha Jane {Kolman | Davidson}
Dances With Words
editrix -at- nemasys -dot- com

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."
        --Albert Einstein 



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