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Sheesh, am I the only tech writer who considers page layout to be part
of the overall information design strategy??? DTP has evolved, for tech
writers, to more than a peripheral task.
Christa Hutchings writes:
> Finally, on a personal note, I also like the variety of doing document
> design and page layout and working with graphics, along with
> my writing
> tasks. I guess there are writers out there who don't want to
> be bothered
> with these tasks, but I found myself pretty bored doing only writing.
I labor over every bulleted list, numbered list, sidebar note, heading
level, font choice, and other DTP considerations as part of my
JOB...which is that of "information design": to make information
accessible to the user, to make retrieving information faster and easier
for the user, and to enhance the overall "palatableness" (is that a
word?!) for the user. It never occurs to me that this is a "bother" for
a writer. Admittedly, I don't spend as much time over it as I do the
gathering and writing of information, but it still is a significant
portion of my work.
Jane
Jane Bergen, Technical Writer
AnswerSoft, Inc.
Richardson, TX (972)997-8355
