RE: Honestly -- when an SME completely REWRITES your text ... GEEZ!

["Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>]

No, the SME was actually trying to rewrite the manual. He sent me his
text with a note saying, "This is what I would write for pages 8-11."
Then again, by putting it that way, he is allowing that what I
ultimately wrote is up to me.

-----Original Message-----
From: kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com [mailto:kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com] On Behalf
Of Kathleen MacDowell
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 10:59 AM
To: technical writing plus
Cc: Downing, David; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Honestly -- when an SME completely REWRITES your text ...
GEEZ!

I might be misreading the situation, but is it possible that the
person just felt it was easier to explain the important points by
writing it than trying to explain it to you? Based on my own
experience, I'd see if I could review the content with the person to
make sure that I understood exactly what they intended. When I've done
this, it's often occurred that I didn't understand the topic
completely, BUT, more importantly, the SME had left out some critical
information, because he or she didn't realize it was necessary, and/or
thought it was "obviously" implied. Those instances have been huge
pluses for the users, because the docs were improved immensely. It
often was hard to do, 'cause though my SMEs were great, they were very
busy, sometimes tetchy (and very tired of my questions). And yes,
sometimes it's hard not to take it personally, but do your best not to
be on the defensive.

Good luck,

Kathleen

On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 10:28 AM, technical writing plus
<doc-x -at- earthlink -dot- net> wrote:
> No it has not happened to me yet, but I would think that this ought to
be a
> common writer-ly anecdote.
>
> I'd go with your 'grateful' reason and here is why. If this happens to
me,
> then I concludes that I do not really know what the person's
motivations
> might be and this 'appreciate the assistance' response would be the
safest
> and most gracious way of reacting to the person's gaffe. And it is a
gaffe
> -- it certainly is a kind of wrongdoing that is related to the person
not
> minding his or her manners. Perhaps it was unintentional, I would not
know.
>
> I'd take the entire episode as an excuse to start a friendly
relationship
> with the person. Most definitely I would not say anything that pointed
out
> the gaffe -- even if the person were to ask me something painfully
direct
> like 'Was it not OK for me to point out your writing errors in the
meeting?
> Didn't you like my honesty and directness?'
>
> Let the person figure out for him or her own self, over time, that
perhaps
> the behavior was untoward. And if he or she never figures it out?
Well, that
> is life in the business world.
>
> But I'd say make friends with the person and take care to let him or
her
> down very gently when it comes time to say 'Sorry but we cannot use
your
> rewrite in the document.' You can even use the text itself as an
excuse for
> starting a discussion.
>
> Jim Jones       zxlat.translatorscafe.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> The other day, I held a document review meeting, and one of the SMEs
> told me I needed to rewrite the description of a particular function
to
> clarify it. Okay, fair enough. I rewrite the passages (and made
various
> other revisions from the meeting) and sent out the revised text to
> everyone. I got an email back from this particular SME this morning in
> which he completely rewrite the function description for me. I'm not
> sure whether to be
>
> - Grateful to him for trying to be helpful.
>
> - Angry with him for not keeping his place and trying to usurp my
role.
> Hey, I'M the writer.
>
> - Insulted, because he's decided I can't write. Rather than telling me
> the passage heeds further clarification, he's thrown up his hands and
> just said, "Looks like I need to write this for him."
>
> One thing's for sure -- what he wrote does NOT conform to our
> departmental style.
>
> How would you take it -- and has anything like this happened to any of
> you?
>
> (And I'm going to check the "To" filed in this email very carefully
> before sending it. I've made the mistake several times recently of
> sending messages to the list that were meant for someone else. It
would
> be just my luck, that I would send this message meant for the list to
> the SME by mistake.)...
>
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-- 
Kathleen MacDowell
www.writefortheuser.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and 
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical 
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

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