You know what never works out well? Letting technical communicators get involved in legal documents. When I do it I end up in tears; when I watch others do it I find myself shaking my head and saying "Bless their hearts."
We want it to be clear; lawyers want it to stand up in court. I've come to accept that there just is not much overlap in that Venn diagram.
Solution? Let them have their way.
The other day, I asked a developer to look at a correction they wanted made. I had rewritten some text they sent me to make it fit into DITA. Their reply was "It's okay, but I like it the way I wrote it better." I felt like writing him back and explaining how my way was in fact better because, after all, it allowed the short description to stand alone if needed. . . blah, blah, blah. I didn't need his approval, so I was just making trouble for myself. I'm so sure a long explanation would have really endeared me to my developer and made me feel more confident about my writing in the future - *rolls eyes*. I stepped away from the keyboard. Thanks for the advice Mike.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDeleteI've been down that road and it ain't pretty.