Re: Technical writing for finance: one for the Friday files

[Ned Bedinger <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com>]

Geoff Hart wrote:
> Ned Bedinger noted: <<Wow, nice save, Dan! It took me a second to  
> grasp the importance of  defending our turf against these loosely- 
> focused insinuations that jargon and complexity are the key to tech  
> writing. There's destructive reductionism lurking out there, in all  
> of those alternative career paths where writing, even explanatory  
> instructional writing, is featured.>>
>
>
> Also note that jargon does not inevitably mean "words chosen so that  
> only the illuminati will understand or words chosen to make the  
> speaker sound more important than they really are". 

OK, but that's really more of a political cartoon anyway. Let's be serious.

> That's certainly  
> one form of jargon; the other kind involves language chosen because  
> it communicates efficiently among people working within a genre. 

Don't be so hasty to dismiss the social function(s) of jargon.

BTW, what is this genre you mention? Is it an abstract technical 
communicator thing?

> We  
> speak here on techwr-l of WinHelp vs. WebHelp vs. HTMLHelp not  
> because we're trying to exclude anyone (which would be the case if we  
> were talking to non-techwhirlers) or sound smarter than we really  
> are, but rather because this jargon communicates effectively. Imagine  
> if we had to explain the details of what we mean by "help" every time  
> we talked about anything related!
>   

Good information for an intern, but I'm looking for something a little 
more advanced if you're offering technical writing advice.

> <<In an age where everyone seem bent on making a blind stab at  
> defining tech writing as a department and a skillset, it seems to me  
> very patriotic to repel borders this way.>>
>
> I assume you're being sarcastic, 

Boarders, then. But bozos would be more to the point. Repel bozos.

> or perhaps just waving the flag  
> without really thinking it through? 

You've got your nerve.

> Any definition can be carried to  
> extremes, and that's exactly the wrong point to be making. The right  
> point to make is that technical communication really is a skillset,  
> not exclusively "writing in the computer industry". 

Are you crossposting this to other lists? I don't believe we've broached 
this subject on techwr-l in a long time. I don't think it applies to me 
or anything I've said.

> That's an  
> unnecessarily narrow worldview, and while it might be appropriate for  
> the specific community that is techwr-l, 

Yes, techwr-l occassionally returns to the topic of technical writing, 
and software tech writers are active here.

> it's much like the goldfish  
> circling his tiny bowl and being amazed at how rich and diverse his  
> world is... particularly that cool little castle. <g>
>   

"Big hat, no cattle." Let's get back to technical writing.


--Ned
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