Re: Post on Technical Writing vs. Technical Communication

Subject: Re: Post on Technical Writing vs. Technical Communication
From: Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:30:00 -0700

On 4/4/2012 7:23 AM, Gene Kim-Eng wrote:

Technical Communicator = Technical Writer with an inferiority complex.

Cute.

Way back when I had a technical writing class and there was only one option for a technical writing class, the school had just changed the course name from "business writing" to "technical writing." The instructor lectured a little bit about why the field was called "technical writing" and not "business writing." She compared and contrasted various writing purposes of writing business documents, like letters, and writing instructions to explain what technical writing was and what it was not.

The name of the field lends itself to confusion because the term "technical" makes many people think of technology, while the term applies to the technical aspects of anything that must be communicated to a target audience. Technical writing typically includes documents, illustrations, and various types of media to provide the content of the writing in various forms, like slideshow and video presentations. While any form of communication other than a written document is not itself something one reads, it is the result of technical writing, so it is technical writing.

I think the expansion of various methods and media to provide the content of technical writing broadens the scope of what non-writers typically view as technical communication, so the term "technical communication" has been adopted to describe this scope. Technical communication tends to include various disciplines that are used in technical writing, but these disciplines also have other purposes not limited to technical writing.

Technical communication includes business analysis, project management, business and personnel management, application development, database management, web site development, and various other non-exclusively technical writing disciplines. What the term "technical communication" does not include is a person known as a "technical communicator." Technical communication is a field of many disciplines that include technical writing. While any person who works in technical communication can be called, a "technical communicator," "technical communicator" is not a legitimate job title and it is likely a catch-all job title for someone who is not focused or for an employer that wants one person to do many jobs.



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References:
Post on Technical Writing vs. Technical Communication: From: Cardimon, Craig
RE: Post on Technical Writing vs. Technical Communication: From: Dan Goldstein
RE: Post on Technical Writing vs. Technical Communication: From: Cardimon, Craig
Re: Post on Technical Writing vs. Technical Communication: From: Gene Kim-Eng

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