Too many people think we are the end-all, be-all of anything
instructional. I'd only expect the tech writer as part of being a tech
writer to know if they are in the business of writing automotive
instructions, or if they have an ASE certification.
****************
...a good idea in my case. If my truck won't start I pick up the phone
and call the tow truck. I do keep the old truck tuned and otherwise
cared for, and I no longer try to run a vehicle forever.
But give me a certified mechanic to talk to -- or the sixteen boxes of
relevant and irrelevant information related to the topic -- and I can
write a spec sheet for a truck (and have done so)!
And I have trained a variety of animals to do trucklike jobs, and can
and have written about that. Darn it, Wendell Berry still said it best,
though, in his poem "Horses": "...the power that would kill me should I
let it turn..."
As an exercise at an STC seminar many years ago, the presenter led us in
an "group write" exercise to assemble the instructions for changing a
flat tire. He used large post-it notes and a blank wall and called his
method "Off the Wall Organization" (the ancestor of DITA?). I was the
one who saw that we were missing "Step One -- Stop the car!"
Using the right words is an important part of the process. Application
of native common sense is another not-so-common trait of good technical
writers. At the risk of crossing topics, I'm darned if I know how that
can be taught or certified.
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