Career advice--which application to focus on: FM or Word?

[Peter Gold]

Hi, Andy:

I've been training technical writers on FrameMaker over the past ten 
years. I just wanted to respond to the popular idea of FrameMaker as 
having a "steep learning curve." It's true that there's a lot the 
product can do, and a lot to learn about using all the features 
necessary to do those tasks. However, if you'd use any other tool for 
the same work, you'd need to learn how to do the same tasks.

In my opinion, it's technical writing itself that has the "steep 
learning curve" regardless of the tools one uses. The reasons that 
some writers prefer - or are required - to use a particular tool set 
for their projects may be dictated only by personal preference, 
because of tradition, or because the project requires specific 
features or abilities.

Keep in mind that more and more, tools are being used in "tool 
chains" that not only create content, but manage it for selectively 
retrieving and publishing it for a range of purposes (or 
"repurposes.") So you may need to choose a tool because it plays well 
with others, not just for its own qualities.

I'm sure you'll receive many good opinions and suggestions from 
experienced writers in response to your question.
________________
Regards,

Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices


At 11:39 AM -0400 5/11/06, Andy Kelsall wrote:
>Hello everyone,
>
>           I would like some advice from anyone who has worked in the
>technical writing field for more than 3 years. My question is this:
>
>          If you knew someone who was looking to enter the technical writing
>field at this time, would you advise them to seek out positions where they
>would be using FrameMaker, or would you tell them not to worry so much on
>which application would be used, but instead focus on the position and the
>work itself?
>
>          The reason I ask is that on various listservs I subscribe to, it
>seems that most people are big FM advocates and are not too fond of Word.
>I've spent the last month trying to learn the basics of FM, and I can see
>why people choose FM over Word when it comes to serious technical writing.
>Granted, there is a steep learning curve, but it *is* a lot more versatile
>than Word.