Re: Lone Technical Writer, getting things reviewed

Subject: Re: Lone Technical Writer, getting things reviewed
From: Jo Baer <jbaer -at- mailbox1 -dot- tcfbank -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 17:06:19 -0500

I don't disagree with any of what you say. I offered what we do as a suggestion
to Wade, and anyone else who thought they might want to try it. Believe me, I'm
aware of the lack of power of a lone writer--I created the first tech writer
position in this company and hung on through some pretty weird situations. And
we are lucky to have the support of top management, because that takes our plans
and deadlines out of the realm of ultimatum.

The documentation plan idea won't work in all situations; there are very few
one-size-fits-all solutions. It helps here; it may help others. Every writer
knows his or her own environment best, and what types of things might work.

Jo

SM Rush wrote:

> And some of us can write up doc plans until we're blue in the face. And
> managers can express support for them and engineers can have every intention
> of reviewing documents before they hit the client. But what happens in real
> life is very different.
>
> The lone writer faces different challenges than a documentation team, and
> it's not just a matter of scale. It is a matter of both numbers and of
> power. Very often the lone tech writer is working amidst a group of
> engineers, and while there is a common team on many levels there will always
> be a point in which it comes down to the tech writer versus engineers
> (usually involving deadlines). The lone tech writer has no advocate,
> whether peers or manager, and so must fight their own battles. They rarely
> have any power to issue ultimatums to other team members about reviews or
> interviews or deadlines (and even if they did, this would almost always be a
> bad move psychologically when working in a small team).
>
> In addition, the lone writer position is very often coupled with a small
> company environment, which is often characterized as fluid, unstructured,
> creative. Planning may well be done, but "processes" are flexible. Some
> might say unorganized, but that's not really true. It's just a different
> environment and it can work wonders in small companies.
>
> In my next job, I will be looking for a writing team environment. Not
> because I think it's better. I've done the lone writer schtick for five
> years and now I want to see how the other side lives. But there is a real
> rush to being a lone writer. It's not safe and it's not comfortable. But
> it can be fun.


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References:
RE: Lone Technical Writer, getting things reviewed: From: SM Rush

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