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Well, if nothing else, I got a good conversation goin', eh?
Heh heh.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+mschmidt=weathercentral -dot- tv -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mschmidt=weathercentral -dot- tv -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of Gene Kim-Eng
Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 10:19 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Breaking into the tech writing job market
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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