[TCP] Is technical writing worth the hype and pain?
At times, I wonder why technical writers are the least common denominators in a software company. For example, if I submit a document for review, people schedule it for the last few hours of a business day. This amply explains the 'importance' given to that task. Moreover, I have to work with arrogant developers, testers, SMEs, and managers, who don't care a damn about the information needs of technical writers. There is also an absurd level of technical apartheid that at times gives a really wretched feeling. Since a majority of the technical writers have no programming background or releavant domain knowledge, people find it very easy to dismiss them as irrelevant irritants. Ultimately, the conclusion that I can arrive at is that this is a ridiculous and thankless job. Do you agree? Raj _ Windows 7: Find the right PC for you. Learn more. http://windows.microsoft.com/shop __ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. Download Free Trial. www.doctohelp.comhttp://www.techcommpros.com/componentone/ Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email t...@techcommpros.com. Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-subscr...@techcommpros.com Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-unsubscr...@techcommpros.com Need help? Contact listad...@techcommpros.com Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] TCP Digest, Vol 40, Issue 1
Thanks very much for the replies. Will keep you posted. From: tcp-requ...@techcommpros.com Subject: TCP Digest, Vol 40, Issue 1 To: tcp@techcommpros.com Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2010 12:00:01 -0500 Send TCP mailing list submissions to tcp@techcommpros.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to tcp-requ...@techcommpros.com You can reach the person managing the list at tcp-ow...@techcommpros.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than Re: Contents of TCP digest... ___ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. Download Free Trial. www.doctohelp.com http://www.techcommpros.com/componentone/ INTERACTIVE 3D DOCUMENTATION Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com Today's Topics: 1. Re: Is technical writing worth the hype and pain? (Sue Heim) -- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 16:56:08 -0800 From: Sue Heim sue.h...@gmail.com To: raj nair raj_gree...@hotmail.com Cc: tcp@techcommpros.com Subject: Re: [TCP] Is technical writing worth the hype and pain? Message-ID: 7163c29d1001031656r49690649ta12f65365a34c...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I'm a little late to the party but... I firmly believe that you get what you pay for. And that goes for the career, too. If you walk around with a chip on your shoulder, people will respond that way. I *will* say that it's been years and years since I've worked in a company where what I do was not valued. I'm a very integral part of the teams that make up our software development group, and even outside the software group. Many of the other groups ask me for information, just as I do them. I rarely if ever feel as if I'm the least common denominator. In fact, more often, I know more of the overall picture than many others, since I'm a bit of a hub with QA, Dev, PM, FE, and so on. I also never feel as if the fact that I am not a programmer is a detriment. I'm a professional in my own chosen field, and I'm well respected within my organization. I would suggest that you work on gaining the respect of others, rather than pulling the woe is me thing. Finally, I consider what I do as a writer and online help author as a career. This is NOT just a job. This is something I love to do and just so happens to be something I'm good at. If you consider being a technical writer as just a job, maybe you are in the wrong career? (Sorry if this is blunt, but really, if you aren't getting the respect you need, maybe it's something that you need to change?) ...sue On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 10:27 PM, raj nair raj_gree...@hotmail.com wrote: At times, I wonder why technical writers are the least common denominators in a software company. For example, if I submit a document for review, people schedule it for the last few hours of a business day. This amply explains the 'importance' given to that task. Moreover, I have to work with arrogant developers, testers, SMEs, and managers, who don't care a damn about the information needs of technical writers. There is also an absurd level of technical apartheid that at times gives a really wretched feeling. Since a majority of the technical writers have no programming background or releavant domain knowledge, people find it very easy to dismiss them as irrelevant irritants. Ultimately, the conclusion that I can arrive at is that this is a ridiculous and thankless job. Do you agree? Raj _ Windows 7: Find the right PC for you. Learn more. http://windows.microsoft.com/shop __ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. Download Free Trial. www.doctohelp.comhttp://www.techcommpros.com/componentone/ Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email t...@techcommpros.com. Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-subscr...@techcommpros.com Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-unsubscr...@techcommpros.com Need help? Contact
[TCP] Comma before clauses beginning with 'if
It is well-known that a comma is used if an if clause is at the beginning of a sentence. Is there a rule, an exception, where the reverse is true? For example, can this punctuation be right? Select the statement cache size, if you get a warning mesaage. Please share your thoughts. _ The world in moving pictures http://news.in.msn.com/gallery/archive.aspx __ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. Download Free Trial. www.doctohelp.comhttp://www.techcommpros.com/componentone/ Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email t...@techcommpros.com. Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-subscr...@techcommpros.com Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-unsubscr...@techcommpros.com Need help? Contact listad...@techcommpros.com Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
[TCP] Technical writing and tools
Hi All, Does multiple tools restrict the opportunities available for technical communicators? Why is that there is no single standard tool for the technical writing industry? Raj Nair _ Bollywood This Decade http://entertainment.in.msn.com/bollywoodthisdecade/ __ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. Download Free Trial. www.doctohelp.comhttp://www.techcommpros.com/componentone/ Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email t...@techcommpros.com. Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-subscr...@techcommpros.com Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-unsubscr...@techcommpros.com Need help? Contact listad...@techcommpros.com Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] Technical writing and tools
Hi Tom, You have got my question right. For people looking to switch jobs, emphasis on tools may act as a stumbling block, whereas everything else will appear right for him or her. While writing skills can be checked, others such as interviewing skills, research abilities, organisational skills, team player mentality, and people management skills are not evaluated properly. I feel that learning tools is much easier than learning new and complex technologies. Moreover, in a team, all tech writers may not be using a tool to an expert level. Those who use a tool for basic purposes may be left behind or have to seek other avenues to enhance their knowledge. In a country like India, it is easily said than done. Raj From: tajohn...@microlinetc.com To: raj_gree...@hotmail.com; tcp@techcommpros.com Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:37:56 -0400 Subject: RE: [TCP] Technical writing and tools Is there ANY industry that has settled on one tool? Too many employers emphasize tool skills and don't place enough emphasis on critical thinking. Instead, they should be looking at real qualities like: the ability to think, writing skills, and organizational skills. If technical writers cannot learn how to use different tools, how can they ever hope to learn about new technology well enough to write about it? Tom Johnson 231-944-7454 tajohn...@microlinetc.com -Original Message- From: tcp-boun...@techcommpros.com [mailto:tcp-boun...@techcommpros.com] On Behalf Of raj nair Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 3:04 AM To: tcp@techcommpros.com Subject: [TCP] Technical writing and tools Hi All, Does multiple tools restrict the opportunities available for technical communicators? Why is that there is no single standard tool for the technical writing industry? Raj Nair _ Bollywood This Decade http://entertainment.in.msn.com/bollywoodthisdecade/ __ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. Download Free Trial. www.doctohelp.comhttp://www.techcommpros.com/componentone/ Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email t...@techcommpros.com. Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-subscr...@techcommpros.com Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-unsubscr...@techcommpros.com Need help? Contact listad...@techcommpros.com Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com _ Climate, controversies and the changing signatures of nature http://green.in.msn.com/ __ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. Download Free Trial. www.doctohelp.comhttp://www.techcommpros.com/componentone/ Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email t...@techcommpros.com. Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-subscr...@techcommpros.com Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to tcp-unsubscr...@techcommpros.com Need help? Contact listad...@techcommpros.com Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
