Re: Make It Pretty

[Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU>]

Paul's comment is worth considering.  I suspect that no offense was
intended by the original commentor.  When we can overcome our own
sensitivity about the importance of our work and recognize the need of
others to also save face, we are moving in a direction that should
ultimately benefit both sides.  Thanks, Paul, for sharing your insights on
this question.

On Wed, 16 Nov 1994, Race, Paul wrote:

> Your coworker isn't trying to diminish the importance of what you do; she's
> trying to translate it into terms non-writers can understand. (Stuff
deleted)  > So "making it pretty" is one way of indicating that
> there's still some work to be done once it leaves the engineer's desk, at a
> level that non-writers can at least relate to.

> Only reason I can think of that "making it pretty" might be "safer" is that
> sometimes the engineers have such pride of ownership in their writing, that
> they're afraid to turn it over to you for fear you'll ruin it.  In that
> case, saying, "Here, let me have that, and rephrase every sentence to make
> it more understandable, and reorganize the contents so people can actually
> find something," threatens their sense of ownership, and is an insult to
> their misplaced, but jealously-guarded pride in their own ability to write.
>  So if you can say, "Here, let me pretty that up for you," they'll be a
> little more likely to relinquish their text.



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                RoMay Sitze                 rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu

                Practice makes perfect--or perfectly awful.
                It depends on what you practice.

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