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

  • Authors:

  • Geoffrey Sauer

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Washington

  • Venue:
  • ACM Journal of Computer Documentation (JCD)
  • Year:
  • 2002

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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.'