Technical writing as a trade; was, RE: Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it for tech writers?)

Subject: Technical writing as a trade; was, RE: Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it for tech writers?)
From: "Porrello, Leonard" <lporrello -at- illumina -dot- com>
To: 'Steven Jong' <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net>, "despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com" <despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com>, TECHWR-L Digest <TECHWR-L -at- LISTS -dot- TECHWR-L -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:15:23 +0000

The whole "tech writing as a trade" thing makes me a little crazy. Tech writing is NOT a trade. It is a professions--like being a lawyer, doctor, software engineer, or an electrical engineer (to name a few).

Tradesmen work primarily with things to build things. Literally. They work with brick, metal, wood, pipe, or wires. Trades require manual or mechanical skill. We, in contrast, work with ideas. Our jobs require intellectual skill.

We are not tradesmen. We are not "wordsmiths." There is a perfectly good word that describes exactly what we are: writers.

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+lporrello=illumina -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lporrello=illumina -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Steven Jong
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2011 9:19 AM
To: despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com; TECHWR-L Digest
Cc: Steven Jong
Subject: Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it for tech writers?)

Chris Despopoulos posted a long and interesting essay on technical writing as a trade. My understanding is that we're more than a trade because we have a code of ethics. A tradesman will do something stupid if the client demands it ("it's your money"); a professional won't.

Anyway, at the end Chris says:

> I think this finally hits on what bothers me about the certification thing... It tests application within a domain, but where is the test for native ability?

To this I have an answer: we require written commentaries. If you work with beautiful templates and processes and can whip out a company-standard document, but you can't think your way out of a paper bag, we expect to pick that up when evaluating the written commentaries.

-- Steve

--
Steven Jong, Chairman
STC Certification Commission
http://www.stc.org/education/certification/certification-main

mailto:SteveFJong -at- comcast -dot- net
mobile:978-413-2553

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
-- Margaret Mead

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

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as lporrello -at- illumina -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/lporrello%40illumina.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.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat

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

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.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.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com


Follow-Ups:

References:
Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it for tech writers?): From: Steven Jong

Previous by Author: RE: To coin a phrase
Next by Author: RE: Certification -- what's in it for writers
Previous by Thread: Re: Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it fortech writers?)
Next by Thread: Re: Technical writing as a trade; was, RE: Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it for tech writers?)


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads