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.
Grit your teeth. When people start "reviewing" a document rather than
reading it, a ton of incomplete memory fragments from their 7th-grade
English classes begin surfacing in their brains, foggy and indistinct like
the answers that float to the surface in Magic Eight-Balls.
Thus armed, they begin trying to grammatically dissect your work, despite
your bold-print instructions that you are only seeking TECHNICAL
clarification. It's frustrating and - in my experience - unavoidable.
Some of them will even hound you after the doc is published, asking why
you didn't adopt all their changes. Big fun.
One thing I've done is to add a caveat to the instruction notes I give
them, saying that edits not related to technical content will be
disregarded. But you should sugarcoat that message, so as not to offend
the SME. And don't expect it to be heeded. Good luck!
Keith Cronin
___________________________
I believe it was Paul McCartney who wrote:
"You think that people would have had enough of silly sig lines, but I
look around me and I see it isn't so."
Or something like that.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Are you using Doc-to-Help or ForeHelp? Switch to RoboHelp for Word for $249
or to RoboHelp Office for only $499. Get the PC Magazine five-star rated
Help authoring tool for less! Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by April 30. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
