Re: A philosophical tech writing question

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

Downing, David wrote:

> Is in truly possible to remove yourself
> completely from what you write. 

You mean like cloistered, monkish 'selfless devotion' to 
personality-free information?  You betcha!

But most of us lose interest around the time we've purged our work of 
90% of personality. The final 10% is the most costly, in personal terms, 
  while the first 90% is relatively easy--just buy your work clothes at 
a Uniform store, drive a beater (20+ years old), pack your lunch and eat 
at your desk while you work, and you too may find it much much easier to 
think less of yourself. But 90% is the point of diminishing returns, 
where further progress becomes very difficult.

Getting past 90% selflessness generally requires uncommon hardship. A 
few tips to mhelp you on yuour way: you only work on contract, take the 
bus to work, arrive on time every time, share a small cubie, provide 
your own office supplies, take only two small breaks per day (no 
coffee!) + 1/2 hr unpaid lunch, report to your manager often, bow from 
the waist to any permanent employees you encounter in the courzse of the 
day.

The final push to absolute zero is like, sleep on a plank, eat only 
bland mush, wear coarse frocks (coarse pocket protectors!), work by 
candlelight, go blind from eyestrain, etc. Very few technical writers 
undertake this level of de-personalization. (We just aren't comfortable 
excluding ourselves 100% from the user experience.)  The ones who do 
might eventually go on to become PM or BA, but as you know, those jobs 
usually go to the ones who are led into engineering by their absence of 
personality in the first place.

Not sure if I've answered you, let me know if you have further questions.

Ned Bedinger
doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com
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