Re: If you are not a tech writer...

[Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- UNX -dot- SAS -dot- COM>]

> In fact, the definiton of TECHNICAL in technical writing really does
> need definiton, does it not? The needs of writers in all kinds of
> fields have a lot in common it seems to me -- to the point that
> the special needs of any one field are minor, compared to the needs
> held in common with others. Perhaps that is why PROFESSIONAL WRITING
> strikes me as a more appropriate name.

> Peter
> *************************************************************
> *  Peter Montgomery               Montgomery -at- camosun -dot- bc -dot- ca  *

Here's what "xwebster" says about "technical".

1a: having special and usu. practical knowledge esp. of a mechanical
     or scientific subject <a technical consultant>
1b: marked by or characteristic of specialization <technical language>
2a: of or relating to a particular subject
b: of or relating to a practical subject organized on scientific principles
     <a technical school>

As I understand it, you become a professional writer when you write for
money. The gist of this is that you can be a *professional* writer and
NEVER be a *technical* writer, and vice versa. You can, however, be
both. Luckily for me.

Although ALL writers have common needs, the needs of technical writers
are quite different than those of, say, poetry writers. There might be
more common ground between software writers, medical writers, industrial
procedure writers and textbook writers (to choose several examples at
random), than between any one of these and a romance novelist. Even so,
each technical writing branch presents needs unique to its purpose.
Consider the differences between describing a new drug just out of
clinical trials versus writing an owner's manual for a compact disc
player. Both need to be clear, but the differences between the tasks are
not trivial.

Finally, there are significant differences between technical writing in
any subject area and non-technical prose. They told me that technical
writing should demonstrate correctness, clarity, conciseness,
consistency, continuity, construction and content, the so-called
"7 C's". Other writing might improve if writers incorporated any subset
of these qualities, but fiction need not be concise, poetry need not be
correct, and as we all know, correspondence need not be continuous.

As a technical writer, AND a professional one at that, this is all in my
humble opinion.

|Len Olszewski, Technical Writer |   "The fish."                      |
|saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com|Cary, NC, USA|    -Salvador Dali                  |
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| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|