Re: Am I an illustrator or a writer?

[Sarah Stegall <stegall -at- TERAYON -dot- COM>]

Moore, Tracey wrote:

> The goal of a tech writer is to make the documentation usable, right? If
> engineering isn't providing graphics that meet that goal, and you're
> doing a better job. . . .

Very good point. Very good point indeed.
Certainly there are times I feel a graphic
illustration of someone plugging a cable into a
port would do the job a thousand times better than
yet another tedious written procedure,
particularly if I am writing for a non-technical
audience or one that does not use English as a
first language.

And I have to admit, along with others who have
posted here, that I just plain LIKE to do
graphics; it is a nice change of pace.  I am
worried about the amount of time it takes,
however, as I am not sure my employer is aware of
how long it takes me to do a complex illustration.
I don't want to fall behind schedule because I
have to re-draw an illustration or touch up a
marginal one.  I suppose then that *that* is where
I should "draw a line" and ask for help.

At any rate, it appears from postings here that I
am not alone in being asked to do extensive
illustrations, and it is not an unusual demand.
Apparently I should not expect to have access to a
technical illustrator for most projects. I will
factor this into future estimates of work on a
highly illustrated project.  Thanks, all.
--
Sarah Stegall                 ||  Senior Technical
Writer
Terayon Communication Systems ||
stegall -at- terayon -dot- com
2952 Bunker Hill Lane         ||  voice
408-919-5893
Santa Clara, CA 95054         ||  fax 408-727-6204

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