RE: Okay all you independent contractors

Subject: RE: Okay all you independent contractors
From: "Gordon Graham" <gordon -at- gordonandgordon -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 12:21:45 -0400


Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- net -dot- au> wrote:

Writing to convey information clearly and
accurately is what *we* are supposed to be
good at.

Writing to mystify, impress, hoodwink,
bamboozle -- see the MarCom folks down
the hall.

--------------

Hi Michael, I'm sure your comment was meant in jest, and it is amusing. But
it touches on the classic schism between the "noble engineers" and the
"filthy marketeers" that still afflicts many companies.

I would submit that there are two main types of writing:
* writing to explain
* writing to persuade.

Technical writing and "service journalism" are mainly to explain. Marketing
writing, advertising and speech writing are mainly to persuade. (White
papers are a mix of both.) The first describes how to use a product; the
second describes why a product is great to use. One is not necessarily any
nobler than the other. In fact, both are essential to a successful product
and a healthy company that stays in business and provides jobs for writers.

There are people on this list who do some marketing writing... and I'm sure
most of us try to stick to the facts, tell the truth, and clarify the
benefits of the products we write about, rather than "hoodwink" and
"bamboozle" people.

In today's environment, with so many IT companies struggling to stay in
business, I believe the time-honoured split between engineering and sales
has outlived its usefulness. Now more than ever, companies need both
talents--and both types of writing--and they need people who can transcend
this "us and them" game to see the bigger picture that we are all in this
together.


=======================================
Lights... cameras... action!
Watch for our "workshops-on-a-disc"
---------------------------------------
Gordon Graham, Partner
Gordon & Gordon
www.gordonandgordon.com
=======================================






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