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.
In addition to delivering knowledge, the STC is engaged in
building and nurturing a community of Technical Communicators.
By definition, such a community will have its own discourse,
distinct from the discourses found in any other community.
Network security, nuclear physics and hazardous waste disposal,
for example, all have their own communities, each with a
distinct discourse.
If the discourse of a technical writer is totally congruent
with the discourse of a technical community, the writer is
identified with that community, not with the community of
writers. The distinct discourse of technical writers will
naturally tend to include single-sourcing, the usability of
the serial comma, the punctuation of bulleted lists, the
techniques of outlining, and similar issues.
Evidence from this list indicates that tech writers are
introverted, tend to work alone and are frequently alienated
from the communities of technical experts with whom they
interact. Naturally, such a tech writer will seek to be part
of a community like that fostered by STC conferences.
I think that one reason I find this year's STC conference
less compelling than in past years is the sense of community
engendered by this list.
Jim Shaeffer (jims -at- spsi -dot- com)
> -----Original Message--< snipped >---
> From: Matthew Horn
>
> I am wondering what you think the "particular viewpoint of
> writers" is, then. Do we need simple overviews of network
> topologies? A high-level introduction to method reflection? A
> round-table discussion of the merits of .Net?
>
> No. We need the details; we need to get at the guts of the
> technologies, pull them out, play with them, and then fry 'em
> up with some extra virgin oil. We need to sit down and bang
> on some code or some hardware or some widgets until we "get"
> it and then turn what we learned into instructions that our
> customers can follow.
So, who is going to trust a mere writer (or organization of
writers) to deliver that kind of information? <grin>
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