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Dangling modifier? You fool! (Was: Tech writing and incompentence)
Subject:Dangling modifier? You fool! (Was: Tech writing and incompentence) From:John David Hickey <jdavid -at- FARABI -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 7 Jul 1998 12:03:54 -0400
Greetings!
>I recently made a claim that I thought technical writing was rife with
>incompetence.
I have been accused of being an optimist, but I find it helps me to deal
with the silly situations that surround us tech writers. Besides, adversity
builds character!
However, while there may be some incompetent writers out there, I think
this is a good thing in a way 'cause they help the competent writers (like
me, I hope) look better! I'm not sure I want to still be in the biz 10
years from now when the incompetent have been "weeded out". I'll look old,
obsolete, and be accused of being an old farty optimist with a strange body
odor.
There are incompetent people in every profession. There are cops who park
in front of fire hydrants, firemen who stand too long by the firehouse pole
while others are sliding down, and soldiers who put their helmets on
backwards. But there tend to be more incompetent people in a relatively new
profession. Remember that the idea of getting writers to write the manuals
instead of the developers is still kinda new.
Go easy on the "incompetents", especially the ones who have been around for
10 to 15 years. They may have something to teach you, if you dig deep
enough. And remember that they come from a different time; they didn't know
what they were doing when they got their first job 15 years ago and had to
learn on the job. The Universities weren't offering tech writing courses
back then, there weren't any seminars, and they had to use a typewriter
<shudder>.
Incompetent writers are the growing pains of the profession. In time, after
the competent writers have raised the documentation standards, we'll have a
standard to fall back on and be able to state "This document is not
acceptable."
After all, we had to create the Edzel before we could create the Porsche.
---
Be seeing you,
Dave
jdavid -at- farabi -dot- com
Montreal, Quebec
No trees were destroyed in writing this email.
My messages are made with elephant tusks and dolphin meat.
Do not confuse my opinions with my employers'.
Each exists in blissful ignorance of the other.
