FW: Satisfaction (was ... Re: The value of technical writers)

[Lynn Perry <CLPerry -at- WALLDATA -dot- COM>]

>
> Food for thought...if anyone else has wonderful job
> stories, it might be nice to hear some of those for a
> change.
>

When I was freelancing, I got a call from a client who needed a small user
manual for a disk utility. I was completely booked but gave him several
recommendations. He wound up hiring one of the people I recommended. When he
called to thank me for the reference, he said that any time I was free to
call him, "Because you're the best at this that I've ever seen." The "this"
he explained, being bringing a user manual into being from "product specs"
(primarily e-mails and whiteboard architecture drawings) and alpha-level
software (meaning most of it runs at least some of the time).

This, I believe, is the magic we bring to the job: taking a jumbled tangle
of bits and organizing them into a (hopefully) helpful configuration. I
occasionally read a user manual and find myself saying "This is so well
written." I always check to see if the writer/editor's name is listed. Some
may call it silly, but it makes me feel proud.

Excelsior!

C. Lynn Perry
clperry -at- walldata -dot- com
Opinions expressed are mine alone
Wall Data Incorporated, Seattle  WA
Some days it doesn't pay to gnaw through the straps

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