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> > In lessons from your experience, you imply that
> > the writer can earn respect by providing extra
> > added value at his own initiative.
>
> Um, yeah. That's how the game works. You do very good
> work at what you're hired to do, and look for areas to
> expand. That's the golden rule to better business
> practices.
correct
>
> > To me, this
> > means that (a) the writer is allotted sufficient
> > time not only to meet the employer's expectations
> > but-- -- by investing a mere 5-10 hours extra a
> > week, in your case-- to exceed them;
You aren't allotted anything. To me, that implies that you are
directed by someone other than yourself. That's a shame, because that
tells me that your X years of experience is replaced, instead, by the
experience of someone who isn't a writer, because that means that how
a project should be done is based on how a non-writer says it should
be.
OTOH, if you direct it yourself, you give yourself the ability to
build into the project all your experience and knowledge, and to
approach a project so you can exceed expectations. You want the secret
to making a boss happy?
Commit to 5% more than requested, and deliver 5% more than committed.
How many writers discuss with their audience, reviewers, or
management, not just whether the deliverable met expectation, but to
discuss what could have been done to increase it's usefulness beyond
just satisfying their needs. The result of that discussion then guides
you to what would exceed those expectations.
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
writer[at]tdandw.com
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