Re: Concurrent writing and revision

["Marie C. Paretti" <mparetti -at- RRINC -dot- COM>]

At 04:21 PM 7/31/98 -0500, Michael Collier wrote:
>
>In software development, where software is the product, not the
documentation, the
>writing depends on the finalization of the product. If technical
communicators
>were in control of the product, and I'm not sure they should be, things
would be
>different--but only if the end product is documentation.
>

But I'm not sure the distinction holds up that easily, Michael. The end
product of a newspaper is news -- as it happens. Newspapers too depend "on
the finalization of the product" -- they don't finish the story about a
football game until the game is finished, and if in the last minute and a
half, played in overtime at 1 a.m., the underdog team comes from behind,
intercepts two separate passes and scores goals on both of them, then the
story has to change in time for the morning paper, no?

The journalist, like the tech writer, is always dependent on someone else
for content (except for regular columnists like Dave Barry), and that
someone else does not always operate on the same timeline.  In fact,
journalists are probably even less in control of their content than tech
writers -- if a tornado strikes Kansas or Hilary suddenly gives Ken photos
of Bill and Monica in the Lincoln Bedroom, well, you know -- that puts
quite a wrench in things and everybody's content is subject to instant change.

I suspect the difference has to do more with the way a newspaper offices
are organized -- they have editors, etc. working up to the last minute and
mass production is in house rather than via an outside vendor.  They have
the resources to accomodate all the last-minute changes, whereas a tech
pubs group may be dependent on an outside publisher who has other jobs and
fits the Product X User's Guide into a much bigger schedule.  Even if the
publication is done in house, I suspect few software companies have
typesetters and press operators working the same kinds of schedules you'd
see in a newspaper office.

Just my $0.02 on a Friday evening.

Marie

Marie C. Paretti, PhD
Recognition Research, Inc. (RRI)
1750 Kraft Drive, Suite 2000
Blacksburg, VA 24060
mparetti -at- rrinc -dot- com
http://www.rrinc.com

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