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.
Re audience awareness. The need to know your audience has been around at
least since Aristotle. It's a question of style and language, of course, but
also content. A description of a new process for an executive who had to
decide on the value of the process would have very different content than a
description of the same process for the technician who had to perform that
process.
Journal literature contains much good material on audience analysis. For two
of the best, see James W. Souther, "Identifying the Informational Needs of
Readers," IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication" PC-28 (1985):10;
and Mary Coney, "The Use of Reader in Technical Writing, Journal of Technical
Writing and Communication 8 (1978):104.
Tom Pearsall
