RE: Breaking into the tech writing job market

["Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>]

Mike Schmidt wrote: 
 
> Ignorance isn't the issue. By having someone show you, the 
> writer, something you didn't previously understand, you are 
> now no longer ignorant. You now understand it. But, you are 
> still not necessarily an expert and you may tend to write it 
> on a level more apt to appeal to someone else (who also may 
> not be an expert).

You're right, you don't have to have a degree in a field or be an
"expert" to write about it. But you *do* have to *understand* what
you're writing about! You may start out ignorant and have to _acquire_
that understanding, but that understanding is essential to communicating
clearly. 

I think we're in violent agreement on that part. ;-) 

Where we differ is that you think being a subject-matter novice --
having just acquired the bare minimum knowledge -- makes you better able
to write for other novices. I think that being a tech-writing expert
gives you that ability, not being a subject-matter novice. 

Having _more_ than the bare minimum of knowledge enables you to write
for a wider range of audiences, and enables you to decide where to draw
the line between novice-level and intermediate-level information. If you
only know the bare minimum, then you've let your teacher decide what's
novice-level and what's not. 

But then, I share this attitude: 

"There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable that I would not rather
know it than not know it."
-- Samuel Johnson

:-)


Richard


------
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------





 
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