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It was perhaps more unprofessional of me to raise this question here than
it was for the developer with whom I work to question my use of periods in
the way that he did.
I think, however, that by posting on the forum, I got input from other
writers and was able to gain perspective. And, it's not the end of the
story.
I also continued in communication with the developer, and reached a better
understanding of what he wants.
Even though I was imperfect in my response because my initial rant was a
rant, and looks unprofessional, it generated some interesting discussion. I
appreciate everyone's the responses.
In retrospect, it would have been better had I hit "save" rather than
"send" and perhaps not posted at all.
OTOH, I think that the perspective that I have gained by posting my rant
and reading responses has its own benefits.
In the future I will try to remember to hit "save" rather than "send" when
I feel like ranting.
-Elisa
On Wed, Apr 18, 2018 at 12:27 PM, Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net> wrote:
> I would avoid saying on a searchable public forum that my client has an
> "inflated ego," engages in "control-freak meddling," and is not "in their
> right mind." I would also avoid suggesting passive-aggressive responses
> like saying someone should "Start dissecting the comments in his code." Or
> saying, "Thanks, but I only need you to comment on instances of incorrect
> or incomplete information.... you don't need to worry about punctuation
> style issues... that's my job." Or saying, "I can get rid of those periods
> if you want. You're the boss. But, if someone comes along and questions it,
> I don't have anything to defend the action. Your call."
>
> As a general inquiry to the list, why are there so many passive-aggressive
> and emotional responses to this situation? This subject of dealing with
> different writing styles escalated quickly into an odd sense of technical
> writer superiority over clients and their audiences. E.g., What technical
> writer in their right mind would get an inflated ego to engage
> control-freak meddling and start dissecting comments on punctuation style
> issues and tell their clients they should only comment on instances of
> incorrect or incomplete information because the technical writer won't
> defend the action of changing the writing to suit "the boss"? Does the 55
> word question feel good? Will clients who may be mentioned in the technical
> writers' profiles appreciate such characterization?
>
>
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--
Elisa Rood Sawyer
~~~~~^~~~~~
Technical and Creative Writer
"Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today." Mark Twain
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