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John's pretty much right. There's a place for feedback, but editing by committee is neither sustainable nor efficient for long, if at all. At some point, there has to be a person -- you, most likely -- who makes a final decision and says this is how it will be. As John points out, the technical accuracy is where the proficiency of the techical experts is welcome and needed. Once that's established and not in question, the editing expert should be in charge of the final words and style.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Downing, David
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 2:09 PM
To: John Posada
Cc: Technical Writing
Subject: RE: When reviewers collide
I assume you mean grow a pair of feet so I can put one down.
Now one of the reviewers has ventured to rewrite it himself, although he's also said I should "Feel free to use this or something else," and that he doesn't have anything more to add.
David Downing
Senior Technical Writer
Credit Union Solutions
Fiserv
________________________________________
From: John Posada [mailto:jposada99 -at- gmail -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 2:35 PM
To: Downing, David
Cc: Technical Writing
Subject: Re: When reviewers collide
...or grow a pair and say "Unless there are some technical inaccuracies, this is the version we'll be using. Please submit comments based on this version."
Yesterday, I held a document review meeting in which one of my reviewers said that two paragraphs should be rewritten for clarity. I rewrote them and sent the new versions out to everyone who was at that meeting, and now one person says he liked my original wording better. So, what to do - come up with a hybrid, stick with the original wording, or give both versions to our editor and let him make the decision.
--
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
NYMetro STC President
Looking for the next gig.
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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