RE: A dark take on Tech Writing...do you agree?

["Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>]

Impossible. What I said couldn't have been a straw man because it wasn't
an argument. And even if I did have a rhetorical intent that was
tantamount to arguing, I wasn't arguing against Gene. I was talking
about the original poster, who, as I recall, describes a work life
devoid of growth. If I were to formulate an argument, it would look
something like this:

To qualify as a "career", a work life must offer personal, economic, or
professional growth.
In technical writing, one does not grow (personally, economically, or
professionally)
Therefore, technical writing is not a career.

I agree that what Gene describes does qualify as a "career".

Leonard

-----Original Message-----
From: Combs, Richard [mailto:richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com] 
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 2:31 PM
To: Leonard C. Porrello; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: A dark take on Tech Writing...do you agree?

Leonard C. Porrello wrote: 
 
> I think the original poster's ideas were informed by this observation:
> "With the spread during the Enlightenment of the idea of progress and
of
> the habits of individualist self-betterment, careers became possible,
if
> not expected" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career).
> 
> If you're doing the exact thing 10 years from now as you did 10 years
> ago, I don't think you could call that progress.

Straw man. Gene wasn't talking about "doing the exact thing" for
decades, he mentioned "growing." 

I've been a tech writer for 20 years. Management doesn't suit my
personality, skills, or preferences, and I have no desire to change
professions. 

But I'm neither doing the same thing nor exhibiting the same depth and
breadth of skill that I did 20 years ago. I've grown in my profession,
progressed, and bettered myself. I don't need a different job title to
tell me that, or to confirm that it's been a career. 

IMHO, YMMV, etc.

Richard
 

Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------





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