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Subject:Reduce page count WAS Re: secretary's day From:John Posada <posada -at- FAXSAV -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 27 Apr 1998 13:24:31 -0400
Interestingly, this was also a site where a Project Leader reviewed one
of my drafts and came back with the comment that it was all very good,
but could I reduce the page count by 50%. Good grief!
Well, could you?
Ya know...when I read this, I didn't see anything wrong with the request to
reduce page count.
I've found that most times, there are issues in a project that are bigger
than any one particular instance. There may have been a good reason for
this, and sometimes we don't know what the reason is and it's none of our
business (maybe the manual simply had to be under a certain weight to keep
shipping cost under X amount to comply with budget.) In fact, I WISH that
some of the manuals on my desk from other vendors had been reduced by 50%.
When I create documents for project leaders or project managers, I make
sure that they understand (especially if I want to work with them again)
that the document I'm creating is theirs, as much as any other part of the
project. We gotta keep remembering that we are part of the team, working
for the customer and not the other way around, and if the customer is the
project leader or project manager, we are working for them.
Granted, we must also comply with any number of other issues, including
standards and language conventions. However, I also know that given my
preferences, I may, for example, incorporate more white space than a
developer might like. (I have someone here that wants everything to look
like a MAN page)
In most cases, yes, I could reduce page count by 50%. Does the document
NEED 1 inch margins and a "first page" with the title appearing 4 inches
from the top? Can I use 10pt instead of 12pt?
There's a vulgar term that applies here and those that have heard it will
know what the ** stand for:
Our **** stinks too.
We've got to stop placing ourselves on pedestals, or we may find that it
gets real lonely up there.
John Posada, Technical Writer (and proud of the title)
The world's premier Internet fax service company: The FaxSav Global Network
-work http://www.faxsav.com -personal http://www.tdandw.com
-work mailto:posada -at- faxsav -dot- com -personal mailto:john -at- tdandw -dot- com
-work phone: 732-906-2000 X2296 -home phone: 732-291-7811
My opinions are mine, and neither you nor my company can take credit for
them.
