Re: The not-so-new anymore topic

Subject: Re: The not-so-new anymore topic
From: Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- UNX -dot- SAS -dot- COM>
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 09:26:59 -0500

Fred Jacobson notes in response to a query regarding a writer's motive for
gaining the respect of engineers or developers:


> Why should we think that every individual tech writer and every individual
> work situation requires the same relationship with engineers/developers?
> I work closely with a small group of software engineers in the development
> group of a relatively-independent product center in a medium-sized company.
> The product I document is technologically advanced and very (perhaps overly)
> complex. The writers I replaced either could not or did not make the
> effort to understand the product and its underlying technology. I was lucky
> to attend training the second week I was on the job where I could ask
> intelligent questions and offer alternate explanations to demonstrate that
> I can handle the technology. (Of course, I am probably not an example of
> the majority of tech writers. I am trained as a Computer Scientist, but
> I have never worked as an engineer, always as a consultant, trainer,
> training developer, support person, or technical writer.) I want to be on
> the team with the developers. I think I am and can be.


This raises an obvious point, nobody has the same mix of background,
education and abilities as anybody else. I came to technical writing
later in life, having spent years as an applications programmer, a
consulting economist, a cable television system manager, a corporate
software support manager, a govenrment demographer, etc. etc. I took
additional coursework in technical writing to make the switch, but
people who enter the field of technical writing with *only* tech writing
coursework to support their efforts may have a relatively more difficult
time becoming a part of an engineering or development team.

Clearly, the more experience you have in ANY field, *especially* the
technical field for which you write, the easier it is to be accepted by
the engineers and the developers. If you were one yourself, but jumped
out by choice (like I did), you've got the "inside" perspective with an
"outside" position. You can get to this point *without* the experience of
walking a mile in the developer's moccasins, but it requires experience
or ability of a different kind.

I think that the proliferation of technical communication curricula
around the country provides a needed focus, but the resulting
specialists lack (as do many graduates in many fields) the feel for the
the intellectual and profesional culture of the individuals with whom
they will work. You can still get farther faster with the education plus
the subject matter experience. I know that its difficult to figure out
how to provide that in a package. But any exposure you can get to that
culture, coupled with an open mind, will pay dividends in your work.

|Len Olszewski, Technical Writer |"Don't use the imperative!" |
|saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com|Cary, NC, USA| -Rhetorical contradiction |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|


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