Writing-off technical writers

A Writer's Life

Messages posted on the Twin Discussion Board impelled AssureConsulting.com to report this story. However, even as we were researching on the story, we realized there were no monolithic point of view among writers. While we felt it was important to focus on the day to day travails of the tech writer for the article was to form part of our channel Workplace issue and Trends, we also realised it was equally important to not suppress the other point of view. Gurudutt Kamath is a senior technical writer with 15 years experience in the country. We bring his response to the questions posed by the team at Assure.

From your work life, can you enumerate instances about the manner in which organisations discriminate against technical writers?

I have been a technical writer for the last 15 years or so. My experience is to the contrary. I have been delighted to be included as a team member in development teams. As long as 5 years back, I have been included in technical meetings. I remember sleeping (or at least yawning) in a high-level discussion on security for a banking package. When I was with a dot com company, I was "forced to" attend a seminar in USA on eLearning. Usually, technical writers feel that they are left out.

But this is not true any more. Today, it is inevitable that technical writers and programmers are treated on par in all respects. Even though I do not have any technical qualifications, I think my 15 years reputation as a technical writer is formidable (as I have written mainly for the export market). In my current work, there are times when I am not included in technical meetings. But I understand this perfectly well. It is just that the meeting may be too technical and may not be of any use to me. In one case, I have asked to be included in a group. My boss had readily agreed to this suggestion.

In your perspective what are the reasons for apparent organisational high-handeness towards Technical Writers?

Again, I have never felt any high-handed treatment towards me. Similarly, I do not know of any other instances. I do understand that technical writers feel a sort of inferiority complex. This, I think, comes with the territory. I feel each individual should overcome such feelings by proper self-counselling. I feel writers are wont to feel left out or feel high-strung about small slights. One of the reasons for feeling small is the lack of qualifications or certification.

Whereas developers have well known degrees, technical writers have no specialized degree to boast of. I think technical writers should show their competence by their skills and by the quality of work that they do.

How far does the feeling of marginalisation among Tech Writers result form the fact that they do not earn the same salaries and bonuses as developers ?

Sorry. Here again I do not feel any marginalisation exists. I feel salaries are on par with developers. I do not insist that they should be the same. Developers and technical writers bring different skills, so they ought to be paid differently.

There is a severe shortage of good technical writers, so I feel they can command a better price. In terms of bonuses too, I feel there is no discrimination. The nature of work commands the bonus. The driver of a truck and the cleaner of a truck are paid differently. Hey, I am not calling technical writer as cleaners! But I am just making a point. OK, a pilot is paid differently than an airhostess.

How can organisations change attitude towards tech writers?

It is quite likely that my experience is different from others. As they say, your mileage may vary. I have been treated with the highest respect in all organisations that I have worked for. In case there are companies that are ignorant and do not know how to respect technical writers, here are some tips for them.

Technical writers are an integral part of the development efforts. A product looks good only if its documentation and help files look good. Technical writers can thrive and deliver quality manuals, help files, web sites provided they are treated on par with developers. They need to be included in all meetings from day one of a project. Technical writers can contribute towards user interface design, testing, usability testing, etc. Technical writing is both an art and a science. So to find good technical writers is really difficult. Pay them well and retain them.

I feel technical writers too should understand that they are members of a team. Each team member has a role to play. Depending on the contribution and other factors -- the respect, money, bonuses earned could vary. One should not imagine slights. I feel they should strive to be truly technical by building up on their skills.

(Opinions expressed in the article are the personal opinions of individual technical writers)

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