Re: Writing: better or worse after years on the job?
Steven Brown wrote:
It scares me to think that any writer's skills would
decline over time!
My biggest fear is becoming overly confident that my
writing style, or my techniques for organizing or
presenting information, are better than all others.
After only five years as a TW, I find myself following
certain "models" that have worked for me in the past,
but how do I know that I'm not open to new ideas? To
make matters worse, as the sole writer in my company,
I don't have other writers with whom to share ideas.
I helps a lot to be able to get a sanity check.
I have moved to different jobs, and I find that while I may try to adopt their styles, I can offer my ideas that may improve the situation. In the case where I am the lone writer, I find that as the "expert staff" my ideas are usually better founded in design, communication, and writing than what is previously used.
We are the experts. As long as we experiment, try new things out, and design our products to meet the needs of the audience, we do better, even when following older models that ahve worked in the past. There is a reason they worked, and in a similar situation they will continue to work. Use them!
Of course, as Andrew Plato will tell you, don't fall on your sword over items that the customer doesn't care about.
Scott
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Announcing new options for IPCC 01, October 24-27 in Santa Fe,
New Mexico: attend the entire event or select a single day. For details and online registration, visit http://ieeepcs.org/2001
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
References:
Re: Writing: better or worse after years on the job?: From: Steven Brown
Previous by Author:
Re: clear screenshots in Frame
Next by Author:
Re: Help Files for the Mac
Previous by Thread:
Re: Writing: better or worse after years on the job?
Next by Thread:
RE: Writing: better or worse after years on the job?
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads