Podcast: “Anyone Can Write”: Changing Roles for Technical Communicators
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download MP3
Length: 45 min.
Powerpoint
This podcast is a recording of a presentation I gave to students at the Missouri State University technical writing conference on April 23, 2010. This presentation has some overlapping content from the previous presentation on Trends in Technical Communication that I gave to the teachers, except that with this presentation, because the audience was students, I focused mainly on the changing roles technical communicators are playing.
My basic premise is that many IT environments have an assumption that “anyone can write.” Because of this assumption, technical writers are changing their roles, becoming hybrids with additional skill sets, or moving beyond the basics of writing in order to provide both value and find fulfillment.
The very first time I ran into this attitude was WAY back in the 1970s. Maybe I was in junior high, then, I don’t know. Anyway, my dad used to drop me off at school on his way to work. I proudly told him I wanted to be a writer. His attitude was exactly the title of this page and your podcast. “Anyone can write,” he said flatly. He began writing a grocery list. “See, I’m writing. No one is paying me to do this. No one is going to pay you, either.” I tried to work in an extra bit about technical writing, but he dismissed me with a wave of his hand. I let the conversation drop. I knew he wanted me to have an office job. He thought writers starved and toiled away in attics. It wouldn’t be until 2006 and 13 years after his death, that I would achieve my goal — and his. I work in an office as my company’s lone technical writer.
Craig, that’s a great story. Thanks for sharing it. I can envision the image of your father giving you this advice with crystal clarity (even though my father never discouraged me from writing).
Anyone can write. Just as anyone can draw, drive, play cello, etc. etc. But not everyone can do it well. That’s the key. I don’t mean making your writing stylistically and grammatically perfect (that helps, though perfection isn’t needed).
Good writing, especially good technical writing, involves the ability to organize information and present it in a clear, concise, and consistent fashion. You’d be surprised (or maybe not) at the number of people who don’t realize how difficult that can be.
I’m not disputing the argument you make here. I agree that there’s a wide chasm between people who think they can write and people who can actually write. However, in many IT environments, project team members feel that writing is an intrinsic skillset that any college-educated person can do. There’s a perception in IT (whether it’s true or not is beside the point) that anyone can write. As a result, technical writers shouldn’t base their careers in this generic skillset. Doing so leaves them with little value for the company. If writing is your only skill, when budgets get tight, your job will be outsourced or delegated to the secretary or intern, since “anyone can write.” As I mention in this podcast, many companies who try this route eventually realize that it’s not true and hire back the technical writer they previously let go.
Good point. I think what you wrote goes back to what I wrote. Sort of, kind of.
It’s a matter of getting what you pay for. If you’re not willing to pay for a competent (or better) professional writer up front, you’ll wind up paying for one later when the person/people you thought could write produce something that isn’t up to par and you have to hire someone to clean up the mess.
Yeah, this happened to two of my colleagues. It’s always fun to see it. Kind of the like the girlfriend who breaks up with you but then later realizes she needs you again (or something like that).
Great post, as usual. I’ve encountered this attitude often. Like Scott said, I believe the distinction is in how well we write. I love to use a driver’s license analogy… we all drive, right? Does that mean we can all win the Daytona 500?
The challenge, I’m convinced, is getting others to understand that ‘writing’ is more than the act of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). There’s a tremendous amount of supporting activities that require not just skill, but time. Expecting other roles like secretaries, interns, etc. to perform those activities – and perform them well – on top of their primary responsibilities is going to lead to disappointment.
I’ve worked as a secretary and while I could and certainly did edit my share of tech documents, the extent of my editing went no further than typo and grammar corrections. Today, I understand the technologies I document, possess a level of proficiency with the various tools we use to communicate information that goes deeper than mere “user” and (usually) have access to the subject I am documenting, so I can play until I comprehend its design. I can act as the intended user, making suggestions for interface improvement and revising the information to anticipate and resolve areas that may create confusion.
It’s a frustrating reality for me, actually, that I still have to defend my existence. That’s why I believe it’s essential for writers to stay on top of trends and evolve past the user guide. (See my blog for more rants on same.)
Patty, I agree with the idea that most people underestimate the vast number of other activities writers must do in order to write well. In my presentation I refer to this as the 90 percent rule. Writers spend 90% of their time doing preparatory work and only 10% of their time writing. Even if other people can write, they usually don’t have time for the other tasks (the study of the specs, the exploration of the application, understanding user requirements, analyzing user needs and pain points, etc.) that require most of the time (the 90 percent). So they’ll fail in the attempt to write simply because they don’t have time to do it.
But even if they fail, they still believe anyone can write and will therefore undervalue the technical communicator’s role.
Wish I knew what that was like
It seems like a common theme amongst technical writers that we have to try harder and harder to prove that we add value (in other words, to justify our professional/highly skilled level salaries). It’s because we’re a laid-back bunch who make it look too easy! Perhaps we should call the bean counters’ bluff and say, “OK get someone else to write the next set of manuals and see how many more support calls/lawsuits we get.”
I think it might work and we might even find some talented new people joining our profession because they enjoyed writing more than whatever they were doing before the boss got them to do it instead of hiring a professional.
I recently read a 300+ page training manual that is intended to support a two-day technical writing course. I’d love to get a bean counter to read it and show them just how much there is to it when you scratch the surface of technical writing.
Thanks for commenting, Haitham. In my experience, no one explicitly comes to me and says “hey, I can write too!” They just kind of quietly write the manual themselves in Word and don’t see anything wrong with it (even though it may be atrocious, with screenshots in every step, and tasks 32 steps long). They don’t understand how to recognize and evaluate good technical writing, so it’s almost a lost cause.
Pingback: cellulite exercises? | Cellulite Eraser
Hi Tom et. al,
The discussion takes a different turn if we substitute ‘can’ with ‘likes to’. Apply it to engineers. Does it test true or false? Result: A big use case for technical writers.
BTW, thanks for a great blog.
Ben Hechter
STC Canada West Coast Contractors Team Lead
Pingback: cellulite treatment??? | Cellulite Eraser
Pingback: how to make my whois records private for a .it domain? | register domain names | registering domain names | purchasing domain names
This is a great post and I realize why is it that many creative writers diversify. Usually maintaining blogs for companies is not all that enriching.
You know, Ben makes an excellent point. “Liking to” do a job certainly makes a difference in the output of that job.
I love reading the comments about our parents’ encouragement throughout the years (sarcasm intended). I lost count of the number of artistic children, myself included, have been told that “artists only get rich after they’re dead.”
Sadly, many of us followed that advice and entered more “lucrative” professions like writing.