Marking Placeholders for Removal (was Re: HELP)

[Marcia Coulter <notjust -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

>Elna Tymes wrote:

>>There is also another way to get source material. I call it "writing
>>by provocation."  This is sometimes what you have to resort to when
>>your source information is incomplete or inaccurate, and you can't
>>get what you need any other way.  In that case, I write a draft with
>>clearly-labeled missing or inaccurate pieces, and indicate that I
>>need help filling the holes or fixing the inaccuracies.  Normally I
>>get back a review copy with a satisfactory amount of red ink showing
>>me the error of my ways - and including the missing or accurate
>>information. 's OK - I'll take it any way I can get it.

Pat Madea <madea -at- MMSI -dot- COM> replied:

>The hidden danger is missing a small hole or leaving some verbiage in
>a large document that I used merely as a textual placeholder.  This
>method for me has come close to producing some embarrassing passages
>in my documents.  ...

I frequently use Elna Tymes method of getting information. To reduce
the chances of possible embarassment, I mark the "provocative" text in
a standard fashion. For example, in on-line doc, I assign a style of
"MarciaNotes" to notes and placeholders -- that's magenta with a bar on
the left.

Then, before releasing the doc for review or printing, I search it for
text with the named attributes. That search step is on all my
checklists.

---------------------
Marcia Coulter
notjust -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com