Re: Re: A technique to get on development's good side

[Susan W. Gallagher <sgallagher5 -at- cox -dot- net>]

Y'know... I hate to say this, but I will. Many of us seem
to go out of our way to create a divide between writers and
devs, and then when it works, we whine and complain.

I've just come from the STC conference in Seattle, and I 
can't begin to count the number of times I overheard, "Well,
the devs don't know what they're talking about!" or something
similar. With an attitude like that, how can we help but be
divisive??? And how can we possibly be surprised when we
achive the goal we (subconsciously, perhaps) work toward.

In my work, I'm often closer to the devs than I am to the
other writers and I hear their pain. They are overworked
and sometimes overmanaged. They must often code to incomplete
or incomprehensible requirements. They are as concerned as
we are about putting out a good project.

My company gives training classes on their main product about
once every six months. While they are targeted toward the
customer, new employess are expected to attend as well. When
And the dev sitting next to me said, "I wish I'd known this
when I was updating this module; I'd have done things a lot
differently. D -at- mn, this woulda helped."

Ask yourself - are you part of the solution, or part of the
problem?????

My two cents; make of it what you will.
-Sue Gallagher

> You know, this list offers so much good advice on how to overcome the
> divide between tech writers and developers. I too have my techniques.
> But did you ever ask yourselves why that divide exists in the first
> place? Why do tech writers, of all other people on the team, have to
> overcome this artificial barrier placed in their path? 



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