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Subject:Convincing 'em that you write well From:Arthur Comings <atc -at- CORTE-MADERA -dot- GEOQUEST -dot- SLB -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 29 Jul 1994 14:16:16 PDT
how do you convince someone in authority/supervisory capacity --one
who isn't necessarily equipped to judge for themselves--that your
writing is good?
> Gwen
I don't try very hard, because, in ten years of working for a few
fairly large companies I have seen no indication that they care. If
pressed, they will hide behind an insistence that things be accurate,
but judging by their actions, the primary requirements for
documentation are that:
* It looks like documentation.
* It's delivered on time.
I'll still shove a well-executed illustration under someone's nose once
in awhile, or a page or two that succinctly presents a knotty subject;
I've even shown a boss a before-and-after treatment, but (despite rave
reviews from boss after boss) I have somehow concluded that most of the
interest is on my side. Unilateral, you might say.
How do you keep the faith in a situation like that? I dunno; I love
words and I like to see them used well. And I like getting paid for
getting things right. That seems to be enough.
Of course, my current employers are quite a bit different; nothing I
said applies to them. Except for the praise part.
