Re: Inquiry into the nature of technical writing

[Dan Brinegar <vr2link -at- VR2LINK -dot- COM>]

>Larry Allingham
>lawrena9 -at- mail -dot- idt -dot- net
 Wrote:

>I would appreciate further discussion and comments on this issue as well as
>responses to the following questions:
>
>* What other areas engage technical writers besides user documentation and
>on-line help for software products?

Hardware from MicroFramistatic Widgets to Offshore oil rigs,
policy-and-procedure, "popular science-type" info: if there's any level of
complexity or novelty to something, a way to communicate the technical
information behind it is essential (and there are usually better ways to
communicate that info than forcing customers to call you on the phone ;-)

>* Are there subsets of the technical writing discipline in which mastery of
>technical concepts is essential to writing effectively about them?

Yes, there are, and clueful employers/agencies will understand that. Even
if you have to pay the rent for a while with less-than-ideal work, always
keep an eye out for work you know you'll like, and in which you'll be able
to grow and excel.

>* To what extent would engineering and business experience offset ignorance
>of specific software tools in the eyes of an employer seeking a technical
>writer?

Take, for instance, my experience interviewing with a large computer
manufacturer a year ago -- I told 'em I'd commute from Phoenix to Santa
Clara to pull cable for 'em... they didn't care about what tools I knew,
they wanted to know if I could figure out (a) the product and (b) how to
present information about the product within their standards... I *almost*
got it, and would have been willing to write the docs on a teletype... I
didn't *quite* have the level of understanding of the technology they
needed. I think it would have been worse to have tried to do a job for them
and then fail pathetically, than to have to try and document non-existent
software with unfamiliar tools.

>* Is there a market for technical translation? (French to English is of
>specific interest to me)

I know from personal experience of a crying need for English-to-French, and
understand from traffic on TECHWR-L that there is such a market...

Que La Force soit avec Toi...

dan'l

-------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Brinegar   Information Developer/Research Droid

"Now look at the people,
  in the streets, in the bars.
  We are all of us in the gutter:
  But some of us are looking at the stars."

vr2link -at- vr2link -dot- com          CCDB Vr2Link
http://www.vr2link.com     Performance S u p p o r t Svcs.


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