Hacking and Slashing: Technical Communication’s Horror Movie
Presentation Abstract
Scene: Technical writer exits her office cradling her precious manuscript on her way to Publication Mountain. Pride emanates from her eyes as she gazes down fondly at it. We feel her sense of accomplishment; we celebrate with her in a job well done. Ominous music crescendos as we see the direction her path is taking. We move to the edge of our seat and grip the arm rests tightly—she’s heading straight for the Dark Alley of Editorial Review! Who knows what lurks around that corner?! As observers of this drama, we scream, unheard, at the technical writer! Turn back! Take another direction. At least make sure you can defend yourself!
The screen goes black as we hear a distant wail of despair. As the lights come up, we see the manuscript on the ground, torn asunder, floating in a blood bath of red pen—its very essence ripped out while it was still so young. As the camera pans out, we see our poor heroine trembling in a corner, wild-eyed and frantic—what will she do now? How can she continue? Where will she find the strength to pick up the pieces and continue, knowing full well that she must next pass through the Sinister Forest of Technical Scrutiny before she can pass through the safety of the Approval Gate.
If only she had listened to our cries! If only she had been more adequately prepared! We could have turned this chilling, rated-R horror movie into a sickly sweet children’s cartoon where everyone lived happily ever after. Let’s rewind and see what might have been if our brave little writer had followed our advice before she left her office.
Meet the Presenter
Dawn Stevens is the President, and owner of Comtech Services and the Director of the Center for Information-Development Management. With over 25 years of experience, including 15 years at Comtech, Dawn has practical experience in virtually every role within a documentation and training department, including project management, instructional design, writing, editing, and multimedia programming. With both engineering and technical communication degrees, Dawn combines a solid technical foundation with strong writing and design skills to identify and remove the challenges her clients face in producing usable, technical information and training.