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Subject:RE: More on drafts -- From:"Smith, Martin" <martin -dot- smith -at- encorp -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 23 Sep 2002 17:10:58 -0600
One thing to keep in mind in this ongoing drafts debate is that software
engineers are often accustomed to checking their work into a revision
control system on a daily basis. Thus, their daily progress is always
accessible to the entire team. This policy ensures that the code is always
in a buildable state.
The notion that you can't see my work until I'm completely finished does not
fit within a software engineering paradigm. Even if the project just got
underway, the code will usually still run--most of the features won't be
implemented yet, but it will still run.
As writers we can fit in better if we follow this paradigm. Outline your
work at the beginning of the project. Divide the book into chapters and
sections. If you haven't written a section yet, leave it blank. Any sections
that have been filled in should be accessible to anyone else in the company.
The fact that a manager picked up a draft off a desk and read it doesn't
sound that unusual. In a networked, team development environment, software
engineers and managers check out either other's code all the time. You have
to. It's the only way a team of people can work on a project.
Just my two cents,
Martin R. Smith
Encorp, Inc.
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