TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> I know exactly how to rewire a plug. I can describe how it's done so that my
> ten-year-old nephew can follow the instructions and do it himself. But when
> *I* have to rewire a plug, it takes me 15 minutes to half an hour and much
> muttered cursing, because I'm a klutz. (My nephew, who is not a klutz, does
> it much faster and listens interestedly to my muttered cursing.) No one
> would ever hire me to rewire plugs... but anyone can hire me to write about
> how to rewire plugs. I'm good at that.
Jane, if you're anything like me, being a klutz is probably *why* you're
good at writing instructions. I'm not naturally quick at picking up
manual skills - or at picking up any skills, for that matter. Being
left-handed doesn't help, either, since most teachers and most diagrams
are made for right-handed people. Knowing how frustrated many
instructions leave me is an incentive for me to write better ones.
It helps that, over the years, one of the ways that I've managed to
avoid looking like an idiot who's still fumbling while the rest of the
class has grasped the concept is to develop a keen eye for what's
essential and what's accidental in a process. Many instructions don't
make this distinction.
Another great weakness in instructions is in organization. They ramble,
and often give far more information than is necessary for a person who
simply needs a hand in getting something done. So, I've learned to be
concise and well-organized in technical writing.
If I'd been a genius instead of a plodder who has to do everything by
hard work, I probably wouldn't be very effective as a writer. To judge
from the really sharp people whom I've observed, I'd probably just
assume that everyone had the same level of insight that I did, and be
unable to present information in a form that anyone could use.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"I breathe too heavy and I blow too hard
And I stay when I should run
But I won't settle for anything less
'Till I've seen what your love has done."
-The Mollys, "Look What Your Love Has Done"
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
TECH*COMM 2001 Conference, July 15-18 in Washington, DC
The Help Technology Conference, August 21-24 in Boston, MA
Details and online registration at http://www.SolutionsEvents.com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
