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Subject:Writers doing layout? From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Fri, 13 Jun 1997 12:21:48 -0500
The trend towards writers doing layout is strongest in
companies or industries where nobody bothers to hire
skilled graphic designers or editors: the notion seems to
be that one small group of overworked generalists is
preferable to a somewhat larger group of experts. Huh?
I'm primarily a technical editor, but I also do lots of
other things. I'm a writer too, for example, and on the
whole, a pretty good one. But I'd be a whole lot better as
a writer if I spent less time editing and more time
writing. Of course, then I'd be a less good editor....
these things take constant practice. I also do information
and graphic design, even though I have a hard time drawing
a straight line with CorelDraw, let alone with a ruler. I
could probably get to be really good at drawing straight
lines, but then my writing and editing skills would suffer.
Practice makes perfect, after all. I'm also a translator, a
web page designer, a marketer, a publisher, an online help
developer, an ad hoc interface redesigner, and a few other
things now and then. You get the picture by now.
I have to be competent at each of these roles, but more
than that, I have to be expert in at least two: editing and
writing (including translation), which is why they hired
me. With only 24 hours in a day, I can't hope be expert in
any of the other fields, so I'm content to understand just
enough about them that I can do a credible job on my own if
that becomes necessary. More importantly, I know enough
that I can work intelligently with experts (graphistes,
translators, writers, developers) who are much more skilled
than I am in their fields. We get some lovely synergies
going that way every now and then.
I'm firm believer that "[complete] specialization is for
insects", particularly since my job leaves me no choice
other than to become a "Geoff of all trades". Nonetheless,
I don't believe for a moment that I'm as good at my
secondary roles as a specialist would be. So yes, writers
can do it all... write, edit, translate, design, and
publish. But I doubt that they perform all those activities
better than people who concentrate on being superb at only
one or two tasks. Sometimes a generalist is the best
solution, particularly when your resources are severely
constrained, but don't fool yourself that you'll get
results as good as those with a smoothly integrated team of
specialists.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
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