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Warren Singer wonders: <<If you were to list the five most stressful aspects
of being a technical writer (from most to least stressful), what items would
you list?>>
In no particular order (the stressfulness varies from day to day and job to
job): SMEs making undocumented changes in the interface or underlying
algorithms, SMEs forgetting an agreement to keep me posted about such
changes, lazy and careless documentation reviews, suddenly tight deadlines
in a project that's been running for a year (and they just told you about it
a month ago), and balky authoring tools. (Don't get me started about
autonumbering...)
<<Are there any specific strategies you use to cope with work stress?>>
Lots of aerobic exercise, including walking to and from work every day and
playing hockey all winter. Plus, one of the better relaxation exercises I've
ever heard (author unknown, and reworked in my own words): "Close your eyes,
take a long, slow, deep breath, and picture yourself kneeling in a sylvan
forest glade, every translucent green leaf glowing in the sun, the clean
forest air around you, water from a recent rainfall dripping from every
leaf. Listen to your pulse's leisurely backbeat in your ears, and release
the breath slowly, savoring the smooth working of your lungs. Take another
breath and follow the water as it slowly runs downhill into a stream that
runs past in front of your knees. The crystalline waters run clear, small
fish dart about under the shadows of the sun dancing on the waters, and
bubbles gently rise to the surface from the face of [insert name of
tormenter here]. Breath again, savoring the sensation, and watch those
bubbles, enjoying their spherical perfection and the way the light dances
around and within them, as if in a 7-Up commercial. When the bubbles stop,
release your breath and your grasp on [name]." <evil g>
<<This information would help me in an article I'm preparing for STC's
Intercom magazine.>>
Don't forget to acknowledge the kind folks at techwr-l! Naming everyone who
responds isn't necessary, but it's professional to acknowledge your sources,
and I've seen an occasional Intercom article where the author forgot to do
that. Tsk, tsk.
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
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A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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