We neurotic amateurs: a commentary on Edmond H. Weiss's `Egoless Writing: Improving Quality by Replacing Artistic Impulse with Engineering Discipline'

ABSTRACT

The assertion that technical communicators tend to be `amateurs'---that is, lovers of their work--- is a claim with little foundation. Arguments toward regimentation and systematization of documentation writing are not calls to professionalize a currently-immature field, but rather attempts to emulate the hierarchy we have seen implemented in microprocessor engineering in the 1970s, software development in the 1980s, and content management in the 1990s. Such `egoless' methods may offer advantages to employers, but should not necessarily be considered `progress.'

REFERENCES

• 1: Charney, D. (1996). Empiricism is not a four-letter word. CCC, 47, 567-593.
• 2: Flower, L. and Hayes, J. (1981). A cognitive process theory of writing. CCC, 31, 365-387.
• 3: Kuhn, T. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• 4: Miller, C. (1979). A humanistic rationale for technical writing. College English , 40, 610-617.
• 5: ____. (1978). Technology as a form of consciousness: A study of contemporary ethos. Central States Speech Journal, 29, 228-236.
• 6: Moore, P. (1996). Instrumental discourse is as humanistic as rhetoric. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 10 (1), 100-118.
• 7: Edward Yourdon, Decline and fall of the American programmer, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1993

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.7 DOCUMENT AND TEXT PROCESSING
      I.7.1 Document and Text Editing
          Subjects: Document management

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.7 Distribution, Maintenance, and Enhancement
          Subjects: Documentation

  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors

General Terms:
Documentation, Human Factors, Management

Keywords:
collaboration, documentation development, project management, teamwork