RE: Future trends in technical writing?

[Jim Shaeffer <jims -at- spsi -dot- com>]

1. Premise: Structured Writing is not the result of a defined, unitary
process and therefore cannot be documented by Technical Writers. 

2. Technical communication is not entirely about procedure. There are
technical reports, scientific reports, science writing, nature guides,
the FDA's nutrition facts panel, reference documents with nary a step or
procedure to be found, and other stuff. Even within procedural writing
there are copious amounts of conceptual and reference materials. 

3. Most predictions of the future say either that technical writing will
be made obsolete by enhanced product design and ease of use. (This
prediction has been in vogue since the first GUI crawled out of the
electronic slime.) 
OR
They predict that the increasing complexity of modern technologies means
there will always be a place for writers to help people catch up. 

4. If you are lucky enough to write about something that you find
inherently interesting, more power to you. Most of us write about stuff
we wouldn't think twice about if it didn't pay the bills. 


Jim Shaeffer 

(Waxing philosophical on my first day back from a Thanksgiving
vacation.)



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

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Easily create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to any popular Help file format or printed documentation. Learn more at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.