Essential Technical Writing Skills

[George Mena <George -dot- Mena -at- esstech -dot- com>]

Some comments from the feedback on previous threads:

* A technical writer should always know how to type. Consult your keyboard
for more information.

* Both male technical writers and journalists are probably best served
learning how to take shorthand as well. Makes deciphering the notes taken
during an interview a lot easier, especially when you get only one shot at
getting it all down on paper.

Sidebar 1:  My response to the poster who made the statement "Nowadays,
there seems to be a lot more tolerance of female anger," would be to have a
long talk with the head of the company's Human Resources department.
Corporate American policy today tells us that workplace anger is
unacceptable, complete with zero-tolerance policies that include termination
of employment and prosecution for assault and battery, manslaughter, and
murder.  Extreme cases of anger showed up at Columbine High School, where
kids and teachers alike were gunned down. Same with the 1986 shootout at ESL
in Sunnyvale, CA, where KH-11 spy satellites were being built for the
Department of Defense and CIA.

Sidebar 2: I saw the cover of a recent issue of Newsweek that begged the
question "Why are boys falling behind girls in the schools?" Answer: because
women have stopped playing dumb because of gender differences.

I'm done. Probably said too much. Sorry.

George Mena
Technical Lead/Sr. Technical Writer
ESS Technology, Inc.
48401 Fremont Blvd.
Fremont, CA USA 94538
510-492-1763

"We don't print the truth. We print what we know, what other people tell us.
So we print lies."

 -- Ben Bradlee, executive editor of the Washington Post,
1978, at San Francisco State University, California


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