TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I don't read most the Chicago Manual of Style, or my dictionary. But I want the unabridged versions of these and other reference works. I want to be able to reference that odd bit that applies in my particular case.
Much of technical writing (for what I do) is reference material. I want to cover all the material and anticipate each potential issue it might address. (A technical trainer likely has a different agenda.) But I also need to balance comprehensiveness and available resources. Sometimes I have to settle for only the most important issues--if I have the time to find out what those are.
We juggle and balance resources, thoroughness, priorities. We do what we can to help people understand how to do things better. That may include encouraging them to use web searches.
tims
Steve Janoff wrote:
>So I'm sitting in a meeting today and it occurs to me that ... nobody is actually going to sit there and read these things.
>In fact that's probably true of 99% of what I write, maybe what a lot of us write (but I'll speak for myself here).
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