Re: Versatility - how much is a good thing?

[John Posada <jposada01 -at- YAHOO -dot- COM>]

Is this bad?

First of all, I don't think they would be asking you
to do this stuff if they didn't think you could and if
you hadn't shown them that you could be counted on to
do a reasonably good job, even if you don't think you
are. Give them crap a couple of times and you will be
amazed at how quickly those requests will dry up.

Second..it's not boring, is it? To me,
tech-writer-hell is to spend every working minute
updating the same set of manuals, with the latest
version 3.50.01.03.16

It is my belief that a skilled tech writer is not
skilled because they know how to write an HR document,
or a testing methodology, or whatever. The true skill
of a tech writer is to know how to ask the right
questions of a user to identify what they need to know
about. That's the hard part. The easy part is the
research to get the answers.

In that skill, we ARE the "master", the rest is just
the details.

> Hello all,
>
> As I face yet another radically different writing
> assignment from my
> company, I'm wondering how many different types of
> writing tasks other
> companies expect from their writers. I am expected
> to produce, on very
> short notice, HR policies, user manuals, training

snip

> already weeks overdue
> by the time I receive them. Will "jack of all
> trades, master of none"
> experience be a help or a hindrance at future

===
John Posada, Merck Research Laboratories
Sr Technical Writer, WinHelp and html
(work) john_posada -at- merck -dot- com
(pers) jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com
732-594-0873
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