Writers job description/definition

[Ned Bedinger]

I'm remembering an IT project at a desperately immature company, in the 
process maturity sense.  The original documentation tome was written by 
the architect. The product eventually became established in production 
and later went through several major revisions, but the docs weren't 
maintained. I drew the black spot, so I got the update project.

You know how it can be, in a climate of layoffs, when no one wants to 
risk being the scapegoat for a bunch of past developers, who've since 
moved on without documenting their work adequately?  Well, one good way 
to ensure that the doc update project will take too long is to stage it 
under those circumstances.

Still, it can be done, as you say. Experienced tech writers and a 
reasonably healthy document at the outset can go far toward that goal.

Ned Bedinger
doc at edwordsmith.com



Gene Kim-Eng wrote:
> A "major" update of a 725-page document in two months
> doesn't necessarily have to be "inhuman" for a two-writer
> team where one writer has been on the job for several
> years and the second one hired to assist the first has
> been on the job for over a year.  Or is management
> specifically assigning this all to one writer and instructing
> that writer not to delegate any of it to the other writer...?
> 
> Gene Kim-Eng
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ned Bedinger" <doc at edwordsmith.com>
>>> See, I had a MAJOR update of a 725 page document. I had two months to 
>>> do it.
>>> It was inhuman.
>> Whoever assigns you that kind of workload needs a wakeup call. If 
>> you're not the sort of direct communicator who will stand up to the 
>> boss and declare,