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Re: Breaking into the tech writing job market

Subject: Re: Breaking into the tech writing job market
From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 08:18:51 -0700

One of my first jobs as an engineer was editing MIL docs written by other engineers (someone realized early on that I wrote better
than the average engineer), and the underlying philosophy was "imagine that the reader is looking at your manual in the dark with a pocket flashlight, trying to repair a critical piece of equipment while incoming is whistling over his head." Under such conditions, even a PhD would want instructions that are fast and uncomplicated.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- From: "Al Geist" <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>

As for the comment that Mil. Spec. requires authors to write to a sixth grade level, the reason for this is more because of the writer's than the audience. Long ago, I wrote Mil. Specs. in an office populated by retired military personnel. Writing was not their passion and 20 years of the military taught them the power of adjectives to muddle the meaning, but sound important.

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References:
Re: Breaking into the tech writing job market: From: Damien Braniff
Re: Breaking into the tech writing job market: From: Al Geist

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