Re: Managing A Project

[kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com]

Alexandra asks:

> When you start a project:
> 1)   How much time does it takes for you to research and write up one page
> of reasonably polished-up information for a subject you are not familiar with?

I don't think in those terms. Even now I couldn't give you my
pages-per-day answer to that, and I think for a rookie writer dealing with
unknown technology, that's a particularly tough thing to estimate.


> 2)   Do you polish up each page/section as much as possible before you move
> to the next page/section, or do a rough draft, knowing you'll fix it all up
> at the end of the project?

At first, just spew. Get some words on the page, for ALL sections of the
doc.

Revise constantly, and make sure you keep bouncing your drafts back to
SMEs - or at least maintain a tickler file of issues that it's vital to
get the SMEs to confirm or clarify. Revise, but don't polish. Save the
polishing for the end, and don't be surprised if there really isn't much
time to polish. If the content is solid and written clearly (even if it
lacks some finesse), you're in good shape.


> 4)   How do you know when you're spending too much time working on a 
> specific section of the project?

Deadlines are your friend. Look at the deadline, and at how much you've
gotten done. You've identified a crucial skill good tech writers need to
develop. You want to make sure that your last chapter is as good as your
first chapter, which means you cannot dwell too long on chapter one.
Therefore it's vital that you develop a "big picture" approach to getting
the doc done. You could ALWAYS do a better job if you had more time, but
what you need to do is the best job possible within the time allotted.

My approach to this is to first hammer out a TOC or outline that defines
what sections the document will contain. Suppose you have 10 sections -
you need to allot the time to write each of them. This will entail
research up front, to get the big picture, and section-specific research
as you go. Bounce your outline off your boss or whoever the doc is being
written for, and make sure that the way you're breaking it down meets
their needs.

Once it's approved, set rough deadlines for each section. As you progress,
these may need to be adjusted to conform to reality <g>, but if they start
slipping too much you're in trouble. This is key: if they start slipping
to the extent that you won't be able to get the doc done, you need to
narrow the scope of the doc. Don't try to fit a 30-day project into 15
days; instead, scale it down to the goals of a 15-day project. That is the
most important lesson I've learned, and I learned it in a trial by fire. I
had a deadline cut in half on me. So I realigned my goals for the doc
proportionately, and met the deadline with a doc that satisfied my
company. It can be done.

Just don't waste time freaking out over this stuff - it happens. Assess
the situation, and make the most of it.


> 5)   How many hours do you normally spend, as an average, per week, 
> researching, writing and editing?

This has been discussed repeatedly - check the archives. For many of us,
actual *writing* is not the most time-consuming. You gotta LEARN the
information first, then process, arrange, and instruct your reader. More
of your time will probably be spent in research and revision.

One of my biggest tools is the TOC - I'll write for a while, then generate
a TOC, pulling from the headings in my doc. Often I find that the TOC can
show me in a high-level way whether I'm presenting the information in an
intuitive and consistent way.

Good luck. You can do this.


Keith Cronin, writer at large
(but that's only because I gained weight. I used to be a writer at
medium.)



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