Re: [Alone from the start (was: Documentation planning)]

[Hannah <to -dot- hannah -at- usa -dot- net>]

Milan Davidovic <shl_ctf -at- yahoo -dot- ca> wrote:
> 
> Has anyone on this list been the lone writer on their
> *very first* job (i.e. working in-house) or project?
> If you had to do it again, would you still plunge in
> or would you wait for a gig that put you in the
> company of other more experienced writers?
> 

My first job was on a team of content writers. My second (and current) job is
the lone writer on the project. There are others in the company, but we are
assigned to specific projects all over the country. Most are the lone writer
on the project. We each develop our own process and organization specific to
the project we're working on. I've only talked to one other once - when I was
first interviewed they had him interview me because no one on the team knew
how to determine if I could do the job. 

While all of this gives me a lot of freedom, I think my work would have been
much better (especially in the beginning) had I been in the company of other
writers. I've made mistakes, learned a lot, and spent a lot of my own time to
correct my mistakes. I know having other writers around would have either
avoided these time consuming mistakes or would have caught them earlier. I
know I've wasted more time on figuring out how to organize everything and how
to efficiently complete my work than I would have with a team. 

However........my answer to your question is no. If I had to do it all again I
would not have waited. Plunging in has given me a lot of good experiences. I
can see many long-term advantages I would not otherwise have had. Though
plunging in made my learning inefficient and could have been better with a
team, waiting around would have taught me absolutely nothing but patience. I
already have that and don't need any more lessons on it. 

hannah Bissell
to -dot- hannah -at- usa -dot- net

____________________________________________________________________
Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=1

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.