Truth? Arrogance and a false assumption that technical writers can't possibly "know everything."
I've had programmers tell me to write what they tell me and not worry about understanding the material. "Humor me...explain it to me and let me try to write it and let's see how it goes..." After I did this with one particularly "difficult" engineer - he came back with one of the greatest compliments I ever received, "you know, you really made that simple." "Yeah," I told him, "that's what we do." The best response to the SME is to say - give me a chance - let me show you why a technical writer SHOULD know everything about the functionality...or rather, I agree - we only need to know what the user has to know. If you've programmed something behind the scenes that it complex but beyond the reach of the end-user, fine...but if in the end, you want your end-user (even when the end-user is another programmer) to understand, you have to give us a shot at it too. It works... HTH, Paula Paula R. Stern CEO, WritePoint Ltd. www.writepoint.com Twitter: @ASoldiersMother Blog: www.writepoint.com/blog -----Original Message----- From: tcp-boun...@techcommpros.com [mailto:tcp-boun...@techcommpros.com] On Behalf Of sreeraj nair Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 7:58 PM To: tcp@techcommpros.com Subject: [TCP] SMEs and Technical Writers An SME says that Technical writers are not supposed to know everything about the functionality. What can be the reason or motive behind such a view? ______________________________________________ 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 Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.3/2217 - Release Date: 07/03/09 18:11:00 ______________________________________________ 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
