TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:In the Trenches, A Bit of Venting From:Matthew Horn <mhorn -at- macromedia -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 14 Nov 2002 09:24:40 -0500
Subject: In the Trenches, A Bit of Venting
From: MrMFA -at- hotmail -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <marketing-wrl -at- lists -dot- mattcomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 10:22:20 -0700
I am employed full-time as a technical writer. I was formerly a Marketing/PR writer and really loved that job. I used to put together corporate investment documents and financial reports. But 4 years ago the company moved me to the position of sole technical writer for our narrow-niche office management application. Up until now everything has been great, as I have written tons of Tech Notes for users. The doc set doesn't need revision because it LOOKS awesome.
I recently adopted a writer/contractor. This writer wants to completely ignore established procedures and and just write content, leaving all the important details up to other people. What really irks me is that this contractor has already written 60-odd pages on new features, edited training manuals, and is basically trying to take my job by showing everyone one that they can do it better than me, faster than me, and with less managerial oversight than me.
I want to take a couple of weeks and really study the environment in which we develop documentation -- you know, the process, structure and workflow; but this "writer" wants to just keep moving forward without looking up to see the forest for the trees. The QA and tech support people havent told me that the users need better docs, so there really aren't any problems with our products.
As far as I am concerned, what's really important is how the document LOOKS. The glossiness of the paper, the colors on the cover, the style of the headings. I mean REALLY, nobody reads this stuff, they just glance at it when they install the product.
So far I have set up two weekly meetings to discuss the fonts that we should use, and another informal caucus on the page size and numbering schems. I call it "Margins and Errors". Ha ha. Managers love that kind of stuff. I spent half a day coming up with that name.
I have already talked to my boss about how this contractor is ignoring our processes and really making a mess of things. The job market is very tight, and I sure feel sorry for this contractor, because if they don't go with the flow, they will be out of work shortly.
Mr. MFA
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out SnagIt - The Screen Capture Standard!
Download a free 30-day trial from http://www.techsmith.com/rdr/txt/twr
Find out what all the other tech writers, including Dan, already know!
Order RoboHelp X3 in November and receive $100 mail in rebate, FREE WebHelp
Merge Module and the new RoboPDF - add powerful PDF output functionality
to RoboHelp X3. Order online today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
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.
