slacker's progress

[mountain_laurel]

two of three major features complete. five minor features and one truly massive one to go. not done for the day yet.



here's the secret: it's not that i'm such a fast writer (although i do write fairly quickly and with excellent accuracy -- i rarely have to do much editing after the fact) or a speedy typist (although i usually go 120wpm or so). it's not that i'm a super genius. it's a few things:

• at the beginning of a project i print out specs, categorize them by product, feature, and function, and work through them in a semi-logical order, marking off features as i complete them.
  
  
• in well-designed software, screens for performing similar operations generally function in similar ways. many of the GUI elements are recycled or adapted from other screens. that means i can also recycle and adapt the documentation from those screens to suit new features. so i copy the text over and then run through it, comparing it to the new screen and making any necessary edits.
  
  
• in places that require explanatory text, i can steal and expand on what i find in the specs (one of the good things about working for this client is that the woman who writes their specs does a truly outstanding job of it) and the tech support training materials (written by the same woman). anything i don't know, i mark "TBD" and move on; there's nothing wrong with having placeholders in preliminary docs, and during review the appropriate person (usually) spots that and provides the rest of the info i need. it's much more efficient this way than letting myself get hung up on tracking down details during the first draft.
  
  
• i use an outstanding screenshot tool called SnagIt that speeds up screenshot-taking by about 1000%.
  

even so, i'm always surprised by just how quickly i can kick out docs once i hit my stride. it's a good thing, too, because it sure does take me a long time to hit my stride...

Comments

Good job!

[omarius.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're cookin'!

I have never worked, not even for five minutes, as a tech writer. This makes me a teensy bit sad, as I spent a few years and lots of bucks getting my MS in Technical and Scientific Communication.

I thought it would be a good marriage between my English BA and my computer career.

Instead, I find I wish I could cross out "TSC" and write "CS" on my college transcript. That way I could make more money in the field in which I actually work.

I write truly spectacular memos, though.

Ramblin' again...
-O

[2wanda.livejournal.com]

you amaze me too. good job!

[swisscheesed.livejournal.com]

Go you!