Re[2]: Productivity of Technical Writers

[Karla McMaster <mcmaster%pcmail -dot- cti-pet -dot- com -at- CTI-PET -dot- COM>]

Howard Gold said:

> I guess we just have to LOOK busier -- what a friend mine
> has called _face-time_ (putting your face in the tube
> when a boss strolls by).

Boy...can I relate to THIS discussion! My cubicle happens to have an interior
window overlooking a walkway frequently used by people. It's sort of like
living in a fishbowl. I could close the blinds, but then I'd have no natural
light...

Only a couple weeks ago a colleague of mine (used to be a tech writer) was kind
enough to tell me that someone else had asked him what I did with my time,
since they had walked by and I always seemed to be talking with someone. Boy
was I PEEVED! Like Howard, I am a department of 1. Not only do I have to talk
to get information, I also have to talk to maintain RELATIONSHIPS. My colleague
(wisely?) declined to name my accuser, so I was denied the opportunity to go
give this person a lecture about the reality of technical writing, which comes
down, it seems to me, to at least 35% creating and maintaining relationships
with info providers/reviewers, 40% staring off into the distance--thinking
about how I'm going to structure the information, and a mere 25% writing.

Oh well...guess I need to do some FACE time!

Karla McMaster, technical writer
CTI PET Systems, Inc., Knoxville, TN
mcmaster -at- cti-pet -dot- com