Tech-writers: A Necessary Evil

New to tech-writing, or thinking about starting? The key to success is recognising that tech-writers are a necessary evil.

Tech-writers are necessary because someone has to write the user doco. The programmers and managers sure as hell don�t want to. This is actually part of the reason that you�re evil, too. In my experience, most programmers and managers think that they could write the manuals if they wanted to� they just don�t want to. They might not write all �flowery� like the tech-writers, but what they write is correct.

Unfortunately, that�s quite often all that�s important to programmers and managers.

There is a feeling within the software environment that accuracy = quality. Audience analysis, doco readability, consistency, usability, active and passive voice, commas in a list of three or more items� All of these things are relatively unimportant to everyone but the tech-writer. Oh� and the user.

In a world where accuracy is all important, a lot goes over the head of the dummy. I don�t know if it�s intellectual snobbery, but programmers and managers seem to think that if they understand it, so should the user. It doesn�t matter whether or not they do� they SHOULD! Stupid users! Maybe it�s the geek�s ultimate revenge�

Your document can be 100% accurate, but if the audience can�t read it, you�ve wasted your time.

So why doesn�t anyone acknowledge this? They do! That�s the weird part. In theory, everyone agrees with you, it�s just in practice that you find yourself out in the cold. I don�t know why this happens. Maybe it�s because most of these guys have never done tech-writing.

So tech-writers spend too long worrying about unimportant things. And they bother programmers and managers with unimportant things. But they�re necessary things. Otherwise why would you be employed. Maybe the absence of simple logic short circuits their brains. Who knows?

What we can get out of this is that there�s a feeling that tech-writers waste time, and as a result, they�re pretty much at the bottom of the heap in the software world. I think a good analogy is the way some rich see the poor. Dirty little creatures� if only we could do without them�

But there is an up-side. I don�t want you thinking it�s all bad.

Being at the bottom of the heap has its advantages. You can go unnoticed for years if you want. If you haven�t seen the movie, Office Space, you should hire it. There�s a little ferrety bloke in that who was �let go� years ago. Problem is, no one ever told him, and because of a glitch in payroll he still got paid. No one ever noticed.

Being a tech-writer�s a bit like that.

When I was managing doco teams, my favourite saying was �All we have to do is manage their expectations and our commitments�. Because programmers and managers resign themselves to the fact that they don�t know what�s going on in the doco team, there�s sometimes a temptation to slacken off. Don�t give in to this temptation!!! If you ever get caught, doing it, it�ll be like the boy who cried wolf � they�ll never believe your estimates again!

The other risk is that you�ll lose your sense of urgency. And that�s a big part of what makes a good worker. You should be very strict about managing your commitments. This requires discipline, because sometimes it seems you�re the only one that cares, but you have to do it.

One thing you should be aware of though, is that your average tech-writer in software spends only about 50% of his or her time writing. The rest of your time is spent planning, problem solving, fixing your computer, researching, interviewing the programmers, writing work pracs�

I always found it was a good balance, though.

It was when I started managing teams that the bottom really fell out. Then the percentage dropped to about 10-20%. There were times when I�d go months without writing any help at all. That can be very frustrating, especially if you don�t particularly like managing.

Now managing tech-writers in software is an interesting thing. As with most technology management positions, you kinda fall into it, because you�re the most senior/experienced person in the company. Unfortunately, that doesn�t qualify you to be a manager. Software companies are renowned for dumping people into management roles without any real training or support.

I don�t really have any advice for you here. If it�s gonna happen, it�ll happen. Just be aware of it, and know that if you fall into a management role, it�s gonna be difficult. (That�s not to say that it can�t be rewarding though�)

The ironic thing is that the most difficult aspect of it is that your staff are screaming at you to change the system. �The programmers don�t answer our questions!� �None of my work has been reviewed for the last 2 months!� �The project manager just told me to forget about quality!�

Unfortunately, the inexperienced tech-writer is often na�ve enough to think they can change the system. Once you become a manager, you know you can�t. Hold on a minute� Maybe apathy is what qualifies you to be a manager� Hmmmm.

In any case, my advice is not to push too hard. You�ll make life hard for your manager, and give yourself a bad reputation. Recognise you�re a necessary evil, and work within those constraints.

Tech-writing can be a lot of fun. And don�t let anyone tell you it�s not creative. Trying to think of a way to describe what goes in the Name field without just saying �Enter the name� is a real mind-boggler!

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* Glenn Murray is an SEO copywriter and article submission and article PR specialist. He is a director of article PR company, Article PR, and also of copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit www.DivineWrite.com or www.ArticlePR.com for further details, more FREE articles, or to download his FREE SEO e-book.

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