Re: Excellent post by Mark Baker regarding content jobs

Subject: Re: Excellent post by Mark Baker regarding content jobs
From: Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:08:06 -0700

On 10/24/2013 2:30 PM, Dan Goldstein wrote:

I think I see his confusion. The definition of "technical writing" is contentious, but any given writer's job can be very well defined. His thesis that "content jobs are never well defined" is obviously wrong.

I think the issue in the post is that Mark Baker does not know how to define "content jobs" so he assumes "content jobs" are not well-defined. "Content" may include anything like writing, graphics, code, specifications, heuristics, demographics, and anything else that can printed whether bound or posted online. For me, a content job is anything that includes content. Specific jobs have more specifications.

Technical writers produce technical documentation that provides objective and tangible content related to company's product, service, or process, rather than subjective and abstract content like that used in marketing documents. There is a range of technical writing jobs that varies by company, industry, role, technology, and sometimes, writer.

I think for someone looking at the vast range of types of technical writers, the discipline can look undefined. When that person makes an assumption that every content job should be defined well enough for someone who does not understand the vastness of the discipline, then that looks silly. Mark's thesis that the jobs are not well-defined simply because there is contention about various jobs is ill-founded.

I can understand (and not necessarily agree with) his observations between brick and mortar jobs. His thesis is full of unsupported assumptions and I do not see how his discussion supports his thesis. I think he should abandon his thesis and find another one for his discussion to support.










^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for authoring.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives


References:
Excellent post by Mark Baker regarding content jobs: From: Cardimon, Craig
RE: Excellent post by Mark Baker regarding content jobs: From: Dan Goldstein
Re: Excellent post by Mark Baker regarding content jobs: From: Lauren
RE: Excellent post by Mark Baker regarding content jobs: From: Dan Goldstein

Previous by Author: Re: Excellent post by Mark Baker regarding content jobs
Next by Author: RE: Question about "sidebars"
Previous by Thread: RE: Excellent post by Mark Baker regarding content jobs
Next by Thread: Seeking driver CD (or its contents) for Canon Pixma ip1600


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads