“Attitudes to writers (and why they deserve them)
“Part of the problem is that technical writers are held in low
regard. There is a simple reason for this reputation: Most
technical writers know nothing about technology, and the
documentation they produce is worthless. The average technical
writer is an English major, and is as apt to be attached to the
marketing department of a company as to development or quality
assurance. In other words, they have little feel for technology,
and are encouraged to think of what they produce as a cosmetic
extra rather than a necessity.“Of course, technical writers could overcome these handicaps if
they wanted. I have an English degree myself, yet I had few
problems finding work because I realized early that I needed an
expert understanding of what I wrote about.“But this is a minority opinion.”