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Subject:Re: Re[2]: Who's the author? From:Glen Accardo <glen -at- SOFTINT -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 14 Feb 1995 09:54:15 -0600
> >I wanna know where you started, how you got from there to where ever
> >you stopped. I want straight, honest answers to where every part of
> >that manual came from: format, information, writing, graphics, editing,
> >index entries, binders, covers, etc.
> But am I the author? You bet I am. Do I think that your expections
> are realistic? I do not.
If you sat down and wrote a manual by yourself -- no editor, no proof readers,
no help with graphics, no help with format, no input from anyone else at
all -- then I could hold you to everything in it. After all, it would be
your work and no one else's. Does this happen in the the corporate world?
Nope.
Someone is going to decide that they don't like the word "after" and replace
it with something else. Someone is going to paint the covers Antique
Navajo Mauve or something you hate. In short, a manual will reflect a
collective effort -- one which you as the author should understand and
particpate in, and (my opinion) heavily influence.
If you disagree with something in the manual, or if someone else made
all the decisions about the paper and you felt it was best to leave
them alone, fine. If you were not grand chief muckymuck and other
people made had final say so, I can deal with that. I won't think
you're stupid just because the table of contents is ugly. If you aren't
aware of some minute factual detail in the manual, you are simply human.
If you have too much ignorance of the manual and you can't speak about it,
then you are VERY suspect.
As Lori A. Moreland said, this is a chance to brag about your work -- to
show me how good it is, how well you can do it, how much you like it,
how you can do it better or different. Show me where your expertise is;
show me you can be a good tech writer person.
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glen accardo glen -at- softint -dot- com
Software Interfaces, Inc. (713) 492-0707 x122
Houston, TX 77084
