RE: What to look for in a technical editor

["Mark Baker" <mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com>]

> Mark, if I try to use a screwdriver to pound in a nail, I'm probably going
> to be disappointed.  It's not a failure of the tool.  It's not even a
> failure of this application of the tool.  It is a misapplication of the
> tool.

Kim, you are confusing failure with blame. The screwdriver may not be to
blame, but it it failed to drive in the nail, then it failed. If tools are
misapplied, the generally fail.

I realize that if a school child does not pass a test, we are now obliged to
say that the test was missapplied, not that the child failed. However, I
think we are going to far when we start to bend the language out of shape to
protect the self esteem of a screwdriver -- or even an engineer.

---
Mark Baker
Senior Technical Writer
Stilo Corporation
1900 City Park Drive, Suite 504 , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J 1A3
Phone: 613-745-4242, Fax: 613-745-5560
Email mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com
Web: http://www.stilo.com

This message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the
intended recipient and may contain confidential and privileged
information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, copying, or
distribution is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient please contact the sender by reply email and destroy
all copies of the original message and any attachments.





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Robohelp X3, from eHelp, lets you quickly and easily create 
professional Help systems for all your Windows and Web-based 
applications, including Net. 

Order RoboHelp X3 in May and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, PLUS
free RoboScreenCapture and WebHelp Merge Module. 
 
Order RoboHelp today: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

---
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.