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.
My personal suggestion is to relax a bit on the instructions and
parameters. What has helped me elicit some of the best reviews and
(perhaps more importantly) promoted proper attitude was to distribute
review material with the following quote. A former co-worker and dear
friend, Margaret Gaines, distributed it with her review drafts a decade
ago and I still think it's a gem.
"Oh, bother the manuscripts, mark them as much as you like: what else
are they for? Mark everything that strikes you. I may consider a thing
forty-nine times; but if you consider it, it will be considered 50
times; and a line 50 times considered is 2 per cent better than a line
49 times considered. And it is the final 2 per cent that makes the
difference between excellence and mediocrity."
---George Bernard Shaw, to an actress reviewing one of his plays
*-----Original Message-----
*From: bounce-techwr-l-133538 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
*[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-133538 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com] On Behalf Of JX
*Sent: Monday, October 20, 2003 4:28 PM
*To: TECHWR-L
*Subject: Excellent "please review me!" text or cover pages?
*
*I don't know if this the kind of detail that other writers
*worry about looking good and being well written, but... Can
*anyone point me to sources for excellent cover pages designed
*to orient subject matter experts to a documentation review and
*what's needed? I'm looking for A+ text and/or A+ layout.
*
*I plan to include a cover sheet to send to all my SMEs as the
*first page of the PDFs I send around so that everyone has the
*directions, the mailing address to return it, etc.
*
*There is a lot of important information to convey, and I don't
*want to come across as too an-l retentive or demanding on
*issues that really are important.
*
*Topics I need to convey for each review:
*
** What this doc is (we will soon have a large number of very
*similar docs)
** What state it's in (early tech review versus final sanity
*check review)
** What's left "to do" (otherwise, attention is misdirected to
*known issues)
** What I want (early tech review versus detailed look)
** When it's due, and make it a firm deadline but not be
*annoying about it.
** If you have a full commercial version of Adobe Acrobat, you
*can make notes
* in the PDF that way (please add PDF "notes"; please do not
*add or delete
* anything directly in the text).
** For paper markup, please use a non-black pen, etc
** A mailing address to FEDEX paper copies.
** Special notes about this rev.
** How to contact me with questions.
*
*Anyone here particularly proud of their "review me!"
*information or cover pages & want to show off? :-)
*
*Thanks,
* -- JX
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
---
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.
