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Subject:Re: anyone else in the same boat? From:Christine -dot- Anameier -at- seagate -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 27 Dec 2000 11:17:19 -0600
Michael West wrote:
> If the client wants swill, you're happy
> to produce bucketloads?
>
> Not me, dude.
I have to agree with Michael. Every brain cell I have resists producing
swill, for two reasons:
(1) I feel my duty is to the users. If a client wants documentation that
ignores the users' needs (and that's how I define swill), my instinct is to
fight that. Good documentation benefits the client, whether they understand
that or not.
(2) Producing swill makes me queasy. Any job satisfaction I might derive
from my work goes right out the window, and I am reduced to working solely
for a paycheck. If the job/contract market gets bad, I may have to lower my
expectations and produce swill with a smile... but until that day, my drive
to do good work outweighs my aversion to confrontation, and I'll fight
swill-producing directives.
Obviously this would not endear me to swill-demanding employers... so I'm
excruciatingly careful to avoid such employers (again: assuming the job
market permits me to be choosy). My strategy over the last few years has
been to grill potential clients/employers carefully on their methods and
goals to ascertain whether they're likely to demand swill. I look for the
jobs where the company either (a) agrees with me on some basic principles
or (b) is willing to step aside and let the writer write.
Several people have told me I'll accept grim reality (i.e., my job isn't to
communicate effectively to users; my job is to do what I'm told) once I've
been in this business long enough. I hope to prove them wrong.
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