Re: Satisfaction (was ... Re: The value of technical writers)

[Tracy Boyington <tracy_boyington -at- OKVOTECH -dot- ORG>]

> I do feel that technical writing is a second string job.  Mainly because
> most managers feel that way.  Engineers design and develop equipment,
> and programmers develop software, that is sold for money.  This hardware
> sells for $xx,xxxx, that program sells for $yy,yyyy.  The technical
> documentation does not sell--it is given away with the equipment.
> Therefore, the documentation group is overhead.  they subtract from the
> profit, they do not pay the bills.  Is this valid?  I don't think so,
> but most engineering managers I've worked with think that way.

Again with the generalizations. <sigh> Not every technical writer is
part of a "documentation group" that writes about what the "real people"
do. Some of us *do* produce the product that gets sold. What about the
people who write for Que, or Sams, or O'Reilly, or even for Dummies ;-)?
If you feel like you're a "second string," player (and if you think so,
everyone else will too) or if your manager feels that way, why not try a
different field?

BTW, most tech writers became tech writers because they wanted to be
cowboys but weren't able to. That's been my experience, anyway.

Tracy
who isn't an engineer because she never had even the slightest interest
in being one
--
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Tracy Boyington         mailto:tracy_boyington -at- okvotech -dot- org
Oklahoma Dept. of Vocational & Technical Education
Curriculum & Instructional Materials Center
Stillwater, Oklahoma    http://www.okvotech.org/cimc/
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