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Subject:Re: The Writer's Kit From:DURL <durl -at- BUFFNET -dot- NET> Date:Sun, 4 Jan 1998 22:03:17 -0500
The problem I see with this is the problem I *have* when graphic
designers "throw in" writing, too...
Especially as the Web & on-line media become more
graphics-intensive, why should anybody pay people to write when they can
have their artist/client/designer come up with text? IME, people recognize
art or graphic design as a bona fide profession more generally than they
recognize writing as such. I suspect that our saying "we do it all"
conveys the notion that anybody can write well...or well enough.
We need to make a living. We need to be one more thing than our
competition is. Let's not confuse this with being as good at any one
thing as we *could* be in a Best of All Possible Worlds where people
expand their knowledge in their area of expertise.
Just cuz the carpenter's good with a chisel doesn't mean he can do
brain surgery...with apologies to the da Vinci's among us...
Mary
Mary Durlak Erie Documentation Inc.
East Aurora, New York (near Buffalo)
durl -at- buffnet -dot- net
On Sun, 4 Jan 1998, Jane Bergen wrote:
...snip...>
> As for how much DTP writers have to do...in my office (I'm not a
> contractor), I do it ALL. From scratch to sending camera-ready copy to the
> printer. I've maintained for a long time that the DESIGN of information
> (including the way it's laid out on the page, the navigational aspects, and
> even the fonts) are an integral part of technical communication. It's vital
> for Technical Communicators to understand the principles of desktop
> publishing, information design, and usability in order to communicate
> effectively. Along with the understanding, they need skill in using the
> tools to effect those principles. In brief, DTP is becoming more and more
> an important aspect of technical communication.
>
