Staring into space

[Kevin McLauchlan <KMcLauchlan -at- CHRYSALIS-ITS -dot- COM>]

"A writer is working even when he is staring into space."

Having gotten more than I bargained for when I started
the "Guesstimate THIS!" thread, I'm almost afraid to lob
another grenade into the paint factory...  but ...

About that truism... er, I mean... opinion at the start of
the message...  is it true for you?

I think I might resort to open warfare if I found myself
reporting to a micro-manager.  I understand that some
people's writing method involves producing a ten-level
outline on day three of the job, which they then fill in
over the ensuing weeks/months with hardly a deviation.

I, on the other hand, start with a loose ToC, spend a
lot of time futzing with the product (if a version is available),
chatting up the SMEs (various), and often doing quite
unrelated stuff, while "whatever-it's-going-to-be" percolates
in the back of my head. Then, with the approach of one
of the deadlines, some threshold is reached, the lightbulb
switches on, and I begin to write.  From that point, I burn
through the hours or days, hardly coming up for air until a
draft is nearly ready. Then I give it a quick edit and hand
it to somebody who's supposed to want it at that time.

There follows a period of housekeeping and personal
scratching (the itches that I didn't even notice while in
flow) and socializing (who *are* all these new people?),
until the draft comes back with funny marks on it.

Then, there's a dance (brief or lengthy) about content
revisions, possibly some waiting for last-minute stuff and
a frantic day-or-two stuffing it all in and taking out the
bits that no longer apply. A final copy is circulated and
signed, and we all do the pizza-and-beer thing. My
manager, and/or the Veep of engineering remarks on
how much better the docmentation continues to be since
I came aboard, and there might be a day or three of
relative "down time" until the next project nears a milestone.

There are usually a couple-or-five simmering at any one
time, but generally no more than two of them come to
a boil simultaneously.  I don't pay that much attention
myself, but I'm told that the difference between my
demeanor in the heavy writing phase of a single project
versus a couple of simultaneous ones is that I seem
to blink very little during the latter, while the fingers
fly.  That could explain the dusty eyeballs.

But, all seriousness aside, are there really more than
the two basic styles among the pros -- those who always
had their homework done early and those who take a less
regimented approach, need to percolate for a while, and
then respond to an urgency threshold to bring it all together?

I really AM -- or at least, CAN be -- working even when
I'm staring into space, and I wondered if people found
one working style or another to be (relatively) a help or
hindrance in contract/independent work versus full-time
permanent employ.  Similarly, might there be a consensus
as to which styles of writer do best with which styles of
oversight/management?

Thanks,

Kevin McLauchlan
kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com    (aka  kevinmcl -at- netrover -dot- com)
Journeyman techy writer, duffer skydiver, full-time unrepentent chocoholic

PS: Having said all that, I wonder how many prospective
      future employment doors I just slammed in my own
      face... :-)


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