> There's hardly a post you couldn't write in a day of hard work
I get paid a very high rate to edit and clean up articles written by techies who have this viewpoint.
When you are imparting technical knowledge that you know conceptually, it's easy to just jot down a few thoughts. They make sense to _you_, after all. But in most cases, experts don't recognize the assumptions that a reader might have, such as "what this is" and "why it's important." Like writing code, there's a difference between "make it work (at least the compiler doesn't crash)" and "make it wonderful." That's just the same for writing.
Personally, when I write in-depth articles, I spend a minimum of three days on it. It usually includes researching the topic, interviewing other people who know something about it (or wish they did), and writing the prose. Then I edit the prose. And I edit it again. Because I do my best to be clear and understandable, and to leave out the parts that people skip.
this is interesting. could you give me a link to the kind of post you're talking about? If you don't want to link here you can also email me at the address in my profile.
The authors really know their stuff. They spent that "just a day" writing down what they wanted to say. I spent two full days editing it for readability, querying them about technical details ("I'm not sure what you meant when you said... Could you clarify this point?"), and ultimately making them incredibly proud of the result. (Which was very popular in terms of pageviews, because it's good and useful data.) It still was their voice and their expertise; I was there to help them get the message across.
A good editor is like a good hairdresser. When she is done and you look in the mirror, you aren't surprised. But you think, "Yeah, that's what I WANT to look like!"
I get paid a very high rate to edit and clean up articles written by techies who have this viewpoint.
When you are imparting technical knowledge that you know conceptually, it's easy to just jot down a few thoughts. They make sense to _you_, after all. But in most cases, experts don't recognize the assumptions that a reader might have, such as "what this is" and "why it's important." Like writing code, there's a difference between "make it work (at least the compiler doesn't crash)" and "make it wonderful." That's just the same for writing.
Personally, when I write in-depth articles, I spend a minimum of three days on it. It usually includes researching the topic, interviewing other people who know something about it (or wish they did), and writing the prose. Then I edit the prose. And I edit it again. Because I do my best to be clear and understandable, and to leave out the parts that people skip.