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Subject:Re: What I recently heard From:Janet Murphy <janet -at- fuse -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 15 Nov 2002 11:46:15 -0500
I understand the need for consistency, but I have worked w/some writers who are
so consumed w/consistency that they don't get much work done.
Here's my theory/observation: Manic obsession w/consistency is usually an
indication that the writer doesn't understand a) the material b) the project c)
what they are supposed to be doing on the project. Typically, these types have
been recently downsized from some other company and are new to the
project/company at hand. They are usually in the middle of a big
learning/emotional curve, which further adds to their stress.
In my experience, consistency freaks have an outstanding understanding of the
documenation tool (typically Word or FM) and spend most of their time generating
styles, TOCs, and other format-related stuff *instead of* content. And, these
are first ones to shout "Consistency issue! This cannot be published until xxx
changes are made to the format" when other writers *are* making tangible
progress on a project.
Thoughts?
janet murphy
cincinnati, oh
Jim Shaeffer wrote:
> "Everyone knows that consistency is important. But at STC's
> 46th Annual Conference last May in Cincinnati, a speaker
> reportedly proclaimed, 'It is better to be consistently
> wrong than to not be consistent.'
>
> I was astonished. But many technical writers agreed,
> saying that policing consistency is the most important
> thing they do."
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