Creativity

[Richard Lippincott <rlippinc -at- BEV -dot- ETN -dot- COM>]

Ed Hoornaert asked:

>Is creativity a way of thinking that helps when faced with a process
>or page layout problem? Do you consider yourself creative, or a
technician?


Creativity helps in the tech writing process. The engineer understands the
products as well as (or better than) the tech writer, but the tech writer
has to create the means of communicating to the audience.

I think that creativity is, in many cases, the ability to cross-link
concepts in the brain, and come up with a new idea. A good visual example
of this process is in the film "The World According to Garp", as you watch
Garp get story ideas from a dropped glove or a dangling piano.

I think most of us on this list are fairly creative, and as an example I'd
like to play "Quiz the Experts":

A couple of years back, all the other writers in my area were stumped by
a problem. "How do you properly convey corrosion inspection data in a jet
engine tech manual?" There's a particularly nasty type of corrosion that
forms on turbine blades, and it's recognizable as a dark discolored area.
If it forms, the blade should be discarded.

The -catch- is that there is -another-, harmless type of corrosion that
forms in the same area, and it's also dark green. The engine can continue
indefinitely with the second type of corrosion.

The -shades- of green are distinctly different, though, and once you've
learned the difference it's easy to discern a good blade from a bad blade.
Of course, the problem is that the harmless corrosion is common enough,
and the blades are expensive enough, that discarding -all- discolored blades
is out of the question.

You've got to clearly communicate the information in the manuals, but
there's ONE MORE CATCH: the illustrations are -all- black and white line
drawings, NO EXCEPTIONS. No use of color in the manual at all.

So, how did we solve the problem? (BTW, the Navy loved our answer so much
they adopted the practice for other engine models...)

Clue: IPMS members probably have this all figured out by now.


Post the list, or post me privately. I'll summarize answers in a few
days.

Rick Lippincott
Eaton Semiconductor
rlippinc -at- bev -dot- etn -dot- com