Re: Tech Writing Problems

[Lori Lathrop <76620 -dot- 456 -at- COMPUSERVE -dot- COM>]

I'm writing a user's guide for a software product that's being developed
for a government agency.  The development team is small:  one programmer,
one SME, the contract manager, and me.  The programmer and I both live in
Colorado, but we're separated by about 100 miles (and the Continental
Divide!); the SME and the contract manager are in DC.  If you've already
guessed that the problem has something to do with communication, you're
right.

The problem:  getting the programmer to answer the questions in my first
draft.  I made my questions as conspicuous as possible; they are
sprinkled throughout the text in thick-lined boxes and the words
"DEVELOPMENT NOTES" centered on the first line of each box).  When I gave
him a call today (after not hearing from him since giving him the draft
two weeks ago), his response to my request for feedback was, "Oh, it's
great!  Just what we needed!"  I then asked him if he could respond to the
questions I'd written as DEVELOPMENT NOTES throughout the draft.  His
response was, "Ah, well, um, questions?  Can I call you back tomorrow?"
I'd be willing to bet my bottom dollar that he won't call me back
tomorrow.

I *will* get him to provide the answers I need; however, I'll probably
have to get the contract manager to rattle his cage.  I hate having to
resort to that strategy, even tho' it's an effective one.

There!  I feel better now with that off my chest ....

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Lori Lathrop ----------> INTERNET:76620 -dot- 456 -at- compuserve -dot- com
Lathrop Media Services, P.O. Box 808, Georgetown, CO  80444
(Author of _An Indexer's Guide to the Internet_, published by the
American Society of Indexers, P.O. Box 386, Port Aransas, TX  78383)
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