Re: What makes a technical writer

[Lenore_Weiss -at- WINK -dot- COM]

Here's my response, written as a "rant" to introduce high school students
to technical writing:

So what is a technical writer?
(a rant for high school students)

Ever thought about this once
a thousand times
riding the bus
or staring at the chalk marks.
There it is!   No, there it is!
Hey, where is that road map?
Go?

Don $B!G (Bt ask me.
I $B!G (Bm just the speaker for the period,
wearing clothes you
probably wouldn $B!G (Bt be caught dead in,
trying to make sense
in 50 short minutes
about as much time as it takes me
to find parking in the San Francisco Financial District.

So seriously, what are you going to do with your life?
Back in the days, temping for Kelly Person.
which used to be called Kelly Girl,
I was still making zip.
Rent bill due, gas bill due,
so what was I going to do?

One day looking through the newspaper,
I saw an ad for a Technical Writer. Bingo.
I didn $B!G (Bt know anything about the technical,
but I did know my a-b-c $B!G (Bs.
I $B!G (Bm a writer, I said, and I called that number.

One week later, I was
working on a proposal
for a waste water renewal plant,
an RFP (request for a proposal).
I knew zip about waste water.
But I learned quick.

So what was I doing at my desk
on the third floor of the Kaiser Building
overlooking beautiful Lake Merritt?
Sure, I was paying my rent.
But what is a technical writer?

Here is the key think:

A technical writer is
a translator of technology
because someone
needs to do something right now,
before they go totally ballistic
and call customer service
with a few choice words of their own.

A technical writer is
formed by many tributaries
all rushing to make a deadline,
a dancer around a meeting table
who knows how to follow
procedure.

A technical writer is
a lover
of language
who uses words
to shape understanding.

A technical writer is
a curious person
who wants to know how things work.






Kim Nylander <nylanderk -at- IPIX -dot- COM> on 04/27/99 11:16:59 AM

Please respond to Kim Nylander <nylanderk -at- IPIX -dot- COM>

To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
cc:    (bcc: Lenore Weiss)
Subject:  Re: What makes a technical writer




On 4/27/1999 1:57 PM, Michael Collier said:

>Well, there's certainly a lot to what we do. If I had to pin it down to
>one attribute, I would probably say something like "ability to read
>multiple minds at once" (i.e. those of software developers and end
>users.)

One attribute:  The ability to translate difficult concepts and
procedures in to plain language.

>John Posada wrote:
>>
>> Hello, Michael...I appreciate all the ramifications of
>> the question and I also understand that the total
>> answer is much deeper than my response. However, Kim's
>> response doesn't address the question I was asked:
>>
>> "...describe *one* attribute of a person ..."

Actually, my response that you are referring to was pulled from an email
responding to the Tech Writing and Storytelling thread.

Regards,

Kim Nylander

Technical Writer
Interactive Pictures
Oak Ridge, TN  37830
(423) 482-3000


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