I've figured it out. I need to stop being The Nice Tech Writer.

About six weeks ago, I was asked by a development team to create a quick reference card for a product I did the manual for. It wasn't really in the scope of the original documentation, but beta sites were having trouble with one particular task, and they made a very convincing case that a quick reference card covering just that task would be very handy. So, I said sure, I'd whip something up.

I whipped it up. I sent it out to a 7-odd folks on the development team for review, accompanied by a polite little e-mail. "I would be grateful if you could take a quick look at it and let me know if you spot any errors or submissions."

I get two thorough reviews from two helpful folks, one terse e-mail basically saying, "Looks good," and dead silence from the rest.

I make corrections based on the two reviews that I got. I send the document out again, with an e-mail explaining that I wanted to send this to the printer on Friday and I'd appreciate comments by then.

I got nice thorough reviews from the same people, though one came after the Friday in question. I got a couple of small but useful suggestions from another team member. Silence from the rest.

I eventually decided to just go ahead and print the darn thing. I got a proof from the printer the day of the development meeting, so I brought it along. Two people who had not replied to my previous e-mails suddenly had huge corrections.

I made the corrections, and sent out a third e-mail. with a PDF. In it I explain that I want to send this to the printer Wednesday, and if I don't get corrections by then they'll have to wait until we do the next revision in a few months.

And three people on the team finally read the damn document, and, of course, they want changes.

That thudding sound you hear? That's my head hitting the desk.

I draw two lessons from this:

1. Never try to get anyone to review anything during the week and a half before Thanksgiving.


2. I'm never again going to send out a document for review without a firm deadline.

I'd also like to do something nice for the folks who've come through for me and actually given me feedback every single time. Maybe I'll bake them cookies or something.