RE: Technical writer survey: What should we really call ourselves?

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

As Bill said, "to each his own."

 

I prefer to reserve "artisan" to the definition given on Wikipedia: "An
artisan (from Italian: artigiano) is a skilled manual worker who crafts
items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including
furniture, clothing, jewelry, household items, and tools. The term can
also be used as an adjective to refer to the craft of hand making food
products, such as bread, beverages and cheese." In other words, I see an
artisan as someone with talent who has achieved a high level of
technical skill in creating things primarily with his or her hands.
Stradivarius was an artisan (as was the shoemaker in the Grimm fable,
"The Elves and the Shoe Maker"). Shakespeare was a writer (as am
I-although I admit, some elves would come in handy).

 

Leonard

________________________________

From: kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com [mailto:kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com] On Behalf
Of Kathleen MacDowell
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 11:57 AM
To: Leonard C. Porrello
Cc: Geoffrey Marnell; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Technical writer survey: What should we really call
ourselves?

 

Leonard, I think a good technical writer is an artisan/craftsperson.

That's what distinguishes skilled practitioners. The trick is deciding
where one might want to draw the line at artisan, a la the discussion of
certification. People can be artisans with the tools-of-the-trade,
organization, development, explanation, etc. 

Kathleen

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 12:30 PM, Leonard C. Porrello
<Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -dot- com> wrote:

For starters, I would never refer to us as "wordsmiths." Software
engineers aren't called codesmiths; surgeons aren't called bodysmiths;
lawyers aren't called lawsmiths; actuaries aren't called statsmiths; and
even a dentist, whose work is very close to that of the artisan, isn't
called a toothsmith. Technical writing is similar to other professions,
and it is not an artisan skill or craft.

Leonard

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