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Re: Refining My "Cutting Edge" Technical Writing Skills Post
Subject:Re: Refining My "Cutting Edge" Technical Writing Skills Post From:eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 17 Sep 2003 10:55:27 -0400
"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- editors-writers -dot- info> wrote on 09/17/2003
10:04:03 AM:
> I'm suggesting that, let's say, three weeks researching
> for every one week
> actually creating the documentation is a ratio that might
> offer another reason
> for the existence of so much inferior documentation.
Ah, the joy of broad generalised statements and judgements. It's the trap
TECHWR_L is best at falling into.
Sure, if you're documenting a toaster the research to content development
ratio should be much lower. If you're documenting a cutting edge
electro-hydraulic braking system and computer control interface for urban
transit vehicles the research to content development ratio might need to
be much HIGHER. Both ends of the spectrum and there's no generalisation
that any competent analysis could apply to techwriting as a whole.
Seems to me no matter what the industry or audience the only
generalisation that can be made is; Just enough research, with just enough
content development, with just enough organisation, with just enough
design, to fulfil just enough of the expectations/requirements and deliver
in just enough time for barely enough budget to get paid and make just
enough profit.
Is that saying enough? <lol>
Anything further is tweaking one of the "enough"s into above average,
noteworthy, or excellent territory. But like the old adage of "good, fast,
cheap, pick two." each element pulls against others. The value of each
element is different in different scenarios and industries for different
audiences. The definition of "enough" is open to widely varying
interpretation depending on who you talk to.
Knowing the industry might lower your research time. Knowing
XML/DTP/HTML/SGML/Java/asp might lower your design, organisation, and
delivery times. Knowing writing might lower your content development and
organisation times. Which is most important for your situation? Which one
is your bottleneck? Will savings in one area lead to overall improvements
in speed, quality, or cost? Or, will savings in one area lead to
improvements or losses in speed, quality, or cost in another area? Do the
strengths of one writer in a group complement the strengths of another?
Do you need the members of the group to be generalists strong in all
aspects, or will specialising speed up/improve the group? All questions
that are impossible to answer with a generalisation.
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