Howard C. Berkowitz wrote:
> 
> Sometimes I will copy a relevant article, putting it into
> colored

That's kind of the dirty little secret of tech writers, i.e. that we
sometimes start with someone else's work. ;-) Putting it in colored text is
an excellent idea, though, because it reminds you to fix it. Borrowing
somebody else's work and not putting it in your own words is plagiarism. I
get truly disgusted when I see entire paragraphs from CCO in a document with
someone else's name on it. (This has never happened with Howard's work; I'm
just making the comment.)

> text, and rewrite it until it's totally in my words and
> properly
> linked into the rest of my flow.  

Rewriting is very important, not just to avoid plagiarism. A lot of Cisco
material is as dry as unsalted wheat thins. Also, the writers don't do what
Howard mentioned about getting to the core Zen real meaning. Instead, they
makes lots of assumptions about the reader's understanding and focus on the
"what" and "how," rather than the "why." I am actually unable to read some
Cisco Press books because of this. Bullets that describe products or product
features, for example, don't help me learn . I have to know why they matter
and why you would use them. Howard is very good at explaining the whys.

OK, that's all for now. ;-)

Priscilla

> I do this not infrequently
> with
> CertZone papers, where I take a section out of CCO and...trying
> to be
> polite...rewrite it into intelligible and flowing English.
> 
> 




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