RE: Slow Tech Writers (offshoot of "Looking for advice -- up to t he j ob?")

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

Well, I think I'm a sprinder.... or maybe a grinter.

I'm a lone writer. 

I thrive on getting the new stuff "on paper" -- including 
all the last-minute and post-last-minute changes, 
and getting it out when the product goes "GA".
Encroaching deadlines get my pulse a' trippin'.

I'm also the person who asks all those annoying 
questions that even the PV (product verification 
or QA or whatever ya wanna call 'em) people don't 
ask.

I try not to take *too* much offence when people 
(like -- shudder!-- engineers or --cringe!-- marketers) 
rewrite my stuff, cuz if I look at it after a month 
or so, I'll want to re-write it myself.

But, that said, I'm simply not picky enough with the 
details to be considered a true grinder. At some 
point, I cry "enough!" and move onto something else.
I haven't met many grinder writers, so I'm comparing 
myself in this respect to a fellow named Michael Mack, 
who was laid off from our PV crew, last year, when 
we underwent... uh ... um... corporate shrinkage.

Mike was a tad pedantic, but he was simply amazing 
with details. I'm sincerely sorry that the man is 
no longer available to shred... er, I mean, review 
my customer documents. Be pleased and appreciative, 
if you ever find yourself working with him.

On the other hand, I've met writers who are much 
quicker than I at putting it all together.  I need 
some time to get my head wrapped around both a new 
product and a new work/reporting situation (i.e., who 
is the SME for this or that, who can I pop in on, and 
who can't stand interruptions, who has sensitive "toes" 
("NEVER talk to my people without seeing me first...") 
and all that stuff).  But once I reach my threshold, 
it just flows. When I've acquired a sufficient grasp 
of the product, I don't expend any effort to write 
it up. It's like turning on a tap. The stuff just pours 
out through my fingers.

So, while I thrive on tight deadlines just the 
way any good procrastinator does, that only 
works in the context where I've got a comfortable 
base built up. I know who I'm working with and 
have much of the background learned, and now I 
just need to learn a new, related product and 
write it up.  Without that comfort base -- if you 
dropped me into a totally new situation, I might 
survive, but my health and equanimity would suffer 
measurably.  I probably wouldn't even keep the 
pistacchio bowl filled, at the entrance to my cube...

And here's a heresy that the late (lamented?) A.P. 
would blast... I don't learn everything there is 
to know about every subject that might touch my 
product.  For example, I write about hardware 
cryptographic engines that are used in network 
settings, but I have STILL not memorized PKCS#11 
version 2.x, and I still don't know enough about 
networking to set up a corporate LAN with all the 
relevant servers and firewalls and such. I'd have 
to crack a book or three if my paycheck suddely 
depended on my network administration abilities...
Instead, I learn as much as interests me, or as 
much as I need in order to get a workable context
for the core subject matter, whichever comes later.

To that extent, I guess I don't adhere to "best 
practices".  I've got a life.  :-)

Grinter?  Sprinder?  You tell me.

/kevin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jason Willebeek-LeMair [mailto:jlemair -at- cisco -dot- com]
[...]
> Just as the grinders cannot seem to speed up, the sprinters 
> cannot seem to
> slow down.  They get bored going back over their documents to 
> fix things up
> or make incremental improvements.  They are thrill 
> junkies--always looking
> for their fix of learning something new or presenting 
> information in a new
> way.

[...]
> Sprinters -- excell at learning new technology areas (and passing that
> knowledge on), incorporating last-minute changes, adding new 
> features and
> functionality. They address the time-to-market issues with 
> the project.
> 
> Grinders -- excell at making improvements to existing documentation,
> addressing customer satisfaction issues, and beating down 
> even the smallest
> issues that plague every documentation set (you know, those 
> little questions
> that even the people who wrote the code don't seem to have an 
> answer to).
> They address the quality issues with the project.

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