Re: Necessity of Doc Plans for a Single Chapter or Section
"I think a doc plan is needed even when only one *word* is changed. The doc plan is your contract, and not producing one is tantamount to doing work under the table. Where will you be when the one chapter turns into five new chapters, and the project manager wants to know why you're so slow?
I see the point of calling a doc plan a contract. However, I don't think that this idea should be taken too literally.
For one thing, writers are hired to complete projects, not doc plans. By the time you are ready to write a plan, you should have already put a number of hours into the project. Until I know my working conditions - not least of which how much I'm going to be paid - I am not going to put in the necessary hours into producing a plan. That would be working on spec, and, as a contractor, I don't work on spec. The most that I can generally do as I start a project is give a ballpark estimate of the size of the project and the time it will take to do.
That's not to say that a plan may not be useful, both for your own guidance and peace of mind, and for your client or employee's reassurance. However, if you have a reasonable degree of subject knowledge and enjoy your client's trust, you may not actually need much of a plan. Similarly, if you are learning as you are writing - an all too common situation - you don't want to get locked into a plan too early, because your concept of the project will change as your knowledge grows.
Some people need a detailed plan before they start writing. Others need to commit only the vaguest outline to paper before they plunge into writing. In the end, neither extreme (nor any stage in the middle) is right, except insofar as it works for you. Whatever method lets you deal professionally with your client and allows you to deliver acceptable content is the right doc plan for you.
Don't get trapped into accepting any other writer's declaration of what is necessary in a doc plan (your client's ideas are another matter, of course). Experiment, and find the method that produces your best work.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"Somewhere ahead when our wheels have stopped rolling
When our tires bite the gravel and travelling's through
Somewhere ahead there'll be clean sheets and linen
Somewhere ahead there's rest and there's you."
-James Keelaghan, "Somewhere Ahead"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
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: Necessity of Doc Plans for a Single Chapter or Section: From: tekWriter tekWriter
Previous by Author:
Re: curriculum
Next by Author:
Re: Necessity of Doc Plans for a Single Chapter or Section
Previous by Thread:
RE: Necessity of Doc Plans for a Single Chapter or Section
Next by Thread:
Re: Necessity of Doc Plans for a Single Chapter or Section
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads