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> Question: Given the flux of software applications in development, and my
> inability to affect that schedule, what is a reasonable demand for a tech
> writer on content moratorium? That is, what can I reasonably demand for
> number of days/weeks that the product be stable in order to compose a final
> draft?
As Morpheus would say, "Welcome to the real world, Neo."
In my experience, there really isn't much you can do. Getting a product ready
for release is an imperfect science. You cannot expect the engineers or QA to
sit on the product while you write docs. They just won't do it.
I prefer doc cycles that are suited to such volatile environments. All I can
say without giving away my deep and dark corporate secrets is: you need to move
fast and expect things to change. If you are dependent on complex documentation
procedures or a heavily formalized information acquisition process, you'll
struggle with volatility. I've helped scrap more doc processes pitched as the
solution to this problem then I care to mention because they were just too
cumbersome.
My suggestion is to reorganize your documentation schedules and priorities
such that you can handle last minute changes better. Asking for moratoriums
will likely just get you ignored. Engineers are not going to stop improving
their product so you can catch up on the documents.
Andrew Plato
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