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Subject:Re: Getting Starting in Tech Writing From:Sella Rush <sellar -at- APPTECHSYS -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 30 Jun 1998 12:35:18 -0700
While I agree with George that tech writers in specific fields will ideally
(and sometimes necessarily) have knowledge of that field, tech writers bring
more to their job than an understanding of the field.
First and foremost, tech writers need to be good communicators. They need
to be able to take complex information and put it in a form that is
meaningful to a specific audience (has anyone set this to music yet?). Good
tech writers understand about audience analysis, task analysis, usability
analysis.
Tech writers who write instructional stuff--such as user guides,
tutorials--hopefully have knowledge of adult (or not) education theory. All
tech writers should have some understanding of the way people absorb
information--that schema stuff.
There's lots more, but that should get anyone started.
Sella Rush mailto:sellar -at- apptechsys -dot- com
Applied Technical Systems (ATS)
Bremerton, Washington
Developers of the CCM Database
