RE: Help!!!!! I don't know where to start

["Lydia Wong" <lydiaw -at- fpoint -dot- com>]

Geoff wrote in response to HUDSPET who isn't sure where to start:

> I always get intimidated by something new, particularly if it
> looks to be a long, difficult job. Double that intimidation factor if it's
been a while
> since I last used the authoring tools and need to get up to speed on them
> quickly too. My solution? I always pamper that inner kid (psychobabble
> alert! <g>) by letting myself feel that fear for a bit; one thing I've
> learned is that there's no sense denying what you really feel.

I couldn't agree with Geoff more. Well put, Geoff! You've described how I
often feel to a "t"!

Other folks have had really good advice here, too, HUDSPET. I like the
suggestion about using a whiteboard, and everyone who tells you to "just do
it" (start writing, that is), is correct.

I'd like to add that some people are very visual, which is where the
whiteboard might come into play. Others, like myself, are more auditory.
Therefore, as I write, I try to imagine how I would explain this to a class,
if I were teaching a class on this. (Being a former teacher probably put me
in this mind set.) When I take notes while talking with SMEs, I try to write
down exactly what they say (or use a recorder on rare occasions), because
some of them are very articulate, and if you "capture" what they say,
there's your sentence or paragraph.

And as for organizing the material, some folks have recommended to make
stabs at it, while others say wait. Do what's best for you. I find I must
try to organize as I learn. Educational theory holds in part that we learn
by placing new information within a framework of what we already know. By
organizing as I learn, I find that helps me find where to "hook" the new
information to what I already know. Often I must re-arrange that information
later, because I didn't understand it properly, but that's all part of the
process.

Good luck, HUDSPET! And welcome to TechWr-L!

Lydia
__________________
Lydia Wong
Technical Writer
FarPoint Technologies, Inc.
www.fpoint.com


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