TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
ALL new tech writers (and editors) go through the process of trying to get
accepted by their authors. The more you learn about the engineers' work and
products, the closer you come to being accepted as a worthwhile part of the
team. The more you take the occasional opportunities to explain to your
clients what you do and how you do it, the better off you'll be.
Don't forget that before you got there, the engineers probably had no
idea that the documents you now help them improve were in any sense terrible.
They were probably just "documents" in either draft or final form. There is
a perspective gap here that you have to bridge, and it takes a while when
you are the first tech writers these folks have worked with
One of the better recent articles on this problem is "Winning
respect throughout the organization," by Grove, Lundgren, and Hays, in the
STC journal Technical Communication, 39(3): 384-393 (Aug. 1992).
David Nadziejka
Managing Technical Editor
Argonne National Laboratory
nadziejka -at- anlbem -dot- bim -dot- anl -dot- gov
