TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
No, you aren't being picky. But remember, it's not just an adventure,
it's a job.
I just finished a project from hell that was supposed to be "just add an
index to this manual." The manual was so bad (although each of the many,
many, sentences was grammatically correct) that I ended up throwing it
away and starting over from scratch. Redesigned from the ground up.
(Actually, the "re" is kind of bogus - it implies the original manual
had been designed in the first place.) But I'm a employee, not a
contractor, and I worked closely with the project team. They knew what I
was doing and why, every step of the way. And I knew how the delay
affected the project as a whole, and how to minimize the impact. Had I
been a contractor, I think the months added to a one-week project would
have made me look bad, regardless of how much I improved the document.
Remember - you work for the client, not the document. And if the example
represents the overall quality of the source material, a cleanup is
going to be a substantial change of scope. The client has to decide
whether the improvement is worth the extra time and money, and you have
to go with the client's decision. As writers who care about what we do,
we feel a certain duty to make a document right, but that's not always
the right thing to do. Probably the hardest lesson I've had to learn as
a professional writer is how (and when) to let a less than perfect
document go.
Mike Huber
mike -dot- huber -at- software -dot- rockwell -dot- com
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Randi Figueredo [SMTP:randi -at- NWLINK -dot- COM]
>For example:
>
>"Republishing opens the publish screen and you need to tell
>it to find the new keyword you just assigned, so press
>the Update Keys button. Then you will see your new
>keyword(s) listed in the keywords field of the publish
>screen, and then press Publish."
>
>This paragraph is part of a bulleted list and, thus, a step in a certain
>procedure.
>
>Does anyone else see something wrong with that paragraph or am I just
>being picky?
>
>If I'm not "just being picky" what would you all recommend I do about it?
>Do I tell the client? Do I tell the agent who placed us both here? Or do
>I just keep my mouth shut and not worry about it because it's not my
>problem....although essentially it is.
>
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
