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I guess they are they worried that a writer that was spawned from a test
tube that was kept a bit too warm might write a piece like:
When the user read "strike the [Enter] key" he didn't strike it as he
had Percy's solar plexus when he heard what Percy had done to Josephine,
nor, when he read "press [F1] for help," did he press the key as his
lips had Josephine's. No, he stroked those keys with small efficient
motions of his fingertips, the tiny but devastating motions that the
Contessa had taught him on those stolen nights in the dungeon before the
revolution, barely moving his wrists as he mastered the intricate
delicacy of the software.
Well, the word "creative" has never appeared on my resume because I
can't define it well enough and it reminds me of my aunt doing paint by
numbers, so you can be certain I would never do that. Nope. Not me.
Producing a clear, concise description of a complex task, and doing it
quickly while following the appropriate guidelines, takes a great deal
more creativity than that bit of drivel. But it's a quiet, unassuming
creativity. I think a good technical document should kind of be
invisible - the reader forgets the document and feels like he or she was
born knowing the material. Actually using the word "creative" tends to
imply a bit more flash than is appropriate in most technical material.
Describing myself as creative might imply that I want people to
recognize my voice or style in a document. Now, it happens that I have
some outside artistic interests, and in those I do apply a more obvious
style, one I want people to recognize. But I know the difference between
my day job and my hobbies.
Mike Huber
mrhuber -at- software -dot- rockwell -dot- com
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Stephen Forrest [SMTP:forrest -at- SMTP -dot- SHIMADZU -dot- COM]
>Sent: Thursday, May 15, 1997 9:11 AM
>To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject: Re: Resume critique / resources
>
>> Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 17:09:01 -0400
>> From: John Vaughan <vaughanj -at- MINDSPRING -dot- COM>
>
>> Louise O'Donald posted several comments to the list, including:
>>>
>>>...tech writers aren't supposed to be "creative"...
>>
>> That thing about creativity being looked upon with suspicion by
>> technical types doesn't make much sense to me...
>
>The word "creative" has connotations you don't want. I think
>"resourceful" is a good substitute.
>
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