14 Widespread Myths about Technical Writing
14 Widespread Myths about Technical Writing (Johnson, T., 2008, June 26)
Myths in this Practitioner Blog Post:
- You have to be quite tech-savvy to be a good technical writer
in Technical writers need a technical background and sound domain knowledge - The tools you know are more important than your industry knowledge
in Good technical documentation requires use of several sophisticated tools - Technical writers spend most of their time writing
in Technical documentation is a writing intensive job - Technical writers aren’t allowed to contact users directly. They should get their information through the product manager, customer support, and marketing
in You can’t talk to SMEs - The GlueText Myth
in Transitional text plays no role in most technical content - The Stem Sentences Myth
in Stem sentences are not necessary in technical content - The Front-Matter Page-Numbering Myth
in Front matter must use different page numbers than the content - The Callouts on Graphics Myth
in Callouts should not be used in graphics - You can’t get a job in technical writing unless you have technical writing samples; but you won’t have samples until you have a job in technical writing
in You need technical writing samples to get a job in technical writing - A technical writer who has years of experience is more knowledgeable than one with fewer years of experience
in A technical writer with years of experience knows more than one with less experience - Be careful about having a blog, because all employers google you and will find it
in Be careful about having a blog, because all employers will read it - Technical writing academics are disconnected with the profession and only have a tenuous idea about the actual practice of technical writing
in Technical writing academics are disconnected with the profession - You can’t have voice or style in technical writing. It has to be objective. And the fewer contractions, the better
in Technical writing must be objective - You can single source your material into all the formats your audience needs, if you just learn the right tool or technology.
in Single-sourcing success just requires the right tool or technology - You can’t have voice or style in technical writing. It has to be objective. And the fewer contractions, the better
in You can’t use contracted forms of verbs
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