TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> What I need is a fresh opinion - someone who will
> look at the same words and see what I have not.
> Does it hurt my feelings? Occasionally.
> But you know what? I get over that and move on, and produce a better
> product.
On my last contract of any length (ah, the good ol' days ...), my
project manager went over my rough draft with red pen in hand --
which, sad to say, was quite busy on this particular draft. At one
point, she looked up at me, an apologetic look in her eyes, and said
something along the lines of "Please don't take this personally."
This surprised me. Even though I was green as the freshly mown grass
(my neighbor's grass; my grass is ... well, nevermind), I knew the
process: I write, she (or someone) critiques, and I fix ... then we do
it again.
I told her not to worry; if her changes would make the document
better, then I'm all for them! She smiled, and got back to work with
that red pen. :o\
The final outcome? A manual which the company's CEO praised, a copy
of which now sits on a coffee table in the reception area, as an
example of the types of documents that company produces (my former PM
called me and told me this).
> Imagine how inferior a product I would produce if everyone patted my
hand and
> said, "That's nice," or if I filtered out the feedback from people
who were
> critical.
My point exactly ...!
> If you publish your words, products, etc to others, be prepared for
feedback
> you don't agree with. If you don't want constructive criticism,
talk to your
> pet.
Hmmmm ... see the .sig.
>
> These are my opinions, not those of my employer.
> ______________________________________
> Kim McCarter
--gdw
"If cats could talk, they'd remind us that their ancestors ate ours."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out RoboDemo for tutorials! It makes creating full-motion software
demonstrations and other onscreen support materials easy and intuitive.
Need RoboHelp? Save $100 on RoboHelp Office in May with our mail-in rebate.
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
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.
