| Blog Entry - Friday, February 28th, 2003 | Add / Read (0) |
If you've ever written an article, presentation, thesis, or book, you probably know the process I mean. The slow, grinding, mashing, agonizing process of figuring it all out (the fun part) and then getting it out on paper (or screen, as the case may be) (aka, the less fun part).
Oh wait. I'm supposed to like writing, hm?
Well, I'm in the midst of writing 4 presentations for the View's Admin2003 show and simultaneously writing the next book (ok, the next 7 books, but hey, who's counting). It means that there are many late nights and much brain sweat as I go through the process again.
Ok, Ok, I hear you saying it -- great, we get that it's painful, but what is it that's so painful? I mean, how hard can it be, right?
So, here's my writing process... maybe you have something different or easier?
First, an outline/TOC. I learned long ago that while I might be able to write without an outline, it wouldn't be an easy proposition. So, everything begins with an outline. Granted, sometimes it's a more detailed outline than others, but that's how it begins. Once I'm mostly happy with the outline, I have to just pick someplace in the outline and start fleshing it out. I used to be all hung up with the idea that I should start at the beginning and write through to the end. I got over that. Now I write the things I know best first. So, if there are parts of a presentation, etc that don't require any research or testing -- that's what I try to write first. This way I get a nice flow going without having to stop every 2 minutes to test a process or verify a setting. The one exception to this is the introduction and the conclusion, which I rarely write before the end.
So, once I'm into the writing process I usually have at least two machines sitting next to each other. On one, I have my Domino server(s), Notes client, Web client, browser windows open to any related articles, white papers, or forum discussions, and Acrobat window open to any release notes, help files, or other documentation. Of course, I also have my trusty Paint Shop Pro 6 open too, so I can take screen captures as I go. I also have open anything else I've written on the topic. So, as I work on the chapter of the ND6 Upgrade Exam Guide, I have open the recent presentations I wrote that talk about some of the new ND6 features. Finally, in the case of writing the exam guides, I usually also have open (either in print on the desk or on this laptop) a copy of the Exam Guide -- gotta make sure I'm covering all the competencies, right?
On the other laptop, I have my word processor or presentation software open, depending on what I'm creating.
The writing process consists of looking at the feature in Notes/Domino and trying to make it work. Then reading what the help or release notes or other documentation has to say about it. Repeat as necessary. Then reading what I've written about it before. Then I start to write whatever I'm going to write. Then I go back and forth and back and forth from one laptop screen to the other, as I document each step of what I'm trying to cover, just to make sure I don't leave anything out. That's one of the things I learned early on in the process of being a technical writer/editor (my first career out of college) -- subject matter experts (that's me, now) sometimes leave out steps because they're just too darn obvious. Unfortunately, that makes for sucky documentation or training materials or presentations...
Once a section is finished, I have to go through and read it to make sure I didn't write something amazingly dumb. Then I have to go through and give it a personality injection. I find that my technical writing is incredibly dry the first time I write it. Accurate. But dry. My friend Scott (a truly good friend with whom I used to work, who also acts as my personal editor for everything I write) harps on that flaw in my writing all the time. I think he'd prefer if I'd have a pint of Guinness before I started writing, or at least once during the rewrite process, so that I'd loosen up a bit, but... Of course, he's funny. I'm just accurate. Sigh. So, anyway, I go through and try to work on the flow and the patter a bit.
Repeat as necessary until the entire chapter/article/presentation exists.
Oh yeah, then run spell check. :-) Yes, even me. Or maybe that should be especially me. If the editor makes a spelling mistake/typo, it looks really bad.
Then, I have to go through and make sure all the graphics I need are right and saved with the right names and etc.
Then the chapter is ready for editing by my aforementioned friend Scott and anyone who's doing a tech edit for me (right now, Chris is my unofficial unpaid slave labor tech editor out of the goodness of his heart (at least, I think that's what it is... maybe he just wants to get some of his own back since I'm always editing his articles... hmmm...) Anyway -- thanks, Chris!). Then there's the whole revision process. Then I send it to whomever is waiting for it, like my book editor at 29th Street Press, Katie.
As you may be able to guess after all of that, it's a sloggingly painful process. Of course, if I weren't a perfectionist, I suspect it would be a lot less painful, but, there you have it. Now when I don't have time to chat or breathe or whatever else it is you might be wanting me to do, you know why.
Author: Libby
Posted at: 12:27:26 PM
