Re: Anyone Can Write - Just Look At The Job Descriptions

Subject: Re: Anyone Can Write - Just Look At The Job Descriptions
From: beelia <beelia -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: Ed <glassnet -at- gmail -dot- com>
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2011 17:35:30 -0700

In my experience, when someone says "make it pretty", he is telling
the company how important and clever he is, and how insignificant the
contribution of the tech writer is.

> In most companies, if your bosses think enough of what you do to let you "make" them do anything, you're in a pretty good place.

Gene, I rarely disagree with you, but you're missing the patronizing
tone that usually accompanies "she makes me dot my i's and t's". What
he really means that his i's and t's are about as important as washing
his socks.

> I don't mind people saying I make their documents "pretty," as long as I'm the one who defines what "pretty" means.

By "pretty", they mean that the content is perfect, but it isn't in
the company format - or he doesn't know how to number the pages and
put in headers and footers.

Usually these guys (and they are always guys) are really insecure, do
mediocre work, and their documents are so bad they need a total
rewrite.

Whenever I hear "make it pretty" I don't get mad - I just lose respect
for that person and try to avoid working with him (because I might end
up doing his job and not getting credit for it).

I spent decades letting stuff like this slide because I needed the
job. Considering the unemployment rate, I guess that might qualify as
being "in a pretty good place."

Bee


On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 12:28 PM, Ed <glassnet -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> At a four-day meeting I was told by the SME that it was time for me to
> make his documents pretty.
> 'Nuff said.
>
> --
> Ed
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
> Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
> Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
> http://www.doctohelp.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as beelia -at- pacbell -dot- net -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/beelia%40pacbell.net
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
> Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat


Follow-Ups:

References:
Re: Anyone Can Write - Just Look At The Job Descriptions: From: Ed

Previous by Author: Has anyone taken the MS Office Specialist Certification? Is it worth it?
Next by Author: Re: Anyone out there working with browser-based help with Japanese text?
Previous by Thread: Re: Anyone Can Write - Just Look At The Job Descriptions
Next by Thread: Re: Anyone Can Write - Just Look At The Job Descriptions


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads