Subject:Re: Formality is going bye-bye? From:"Melissa Nelson" <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Tue, 07 Feb 2006 12:59:54 -0500
I have to agree with Collin. I do not necessarily set out to pay attention
to whether my writing is formal or informal. It depends completely on what I
am writing. I write more informal in some of my User Guides...a tad more
formally in a lot of my software documentation...and save the real formal
writing for my writings on history. When you know your audience your writing
just becomes geared to that audience.
I do think there is a lot, and quite often too much, dumbing down due to the
Internet and I confess to occasional IM style writing in my personal emails,
but that too tends to be an audience thing.
Melissa
From: Collin T To: "Dubin, David" CC: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Subject:
Re: Formality is going bye-bye? Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 10:52:47 -0700
All very god points.
And you're welcome (regarding my tagline)!
I was taught that the average American reader is hanging around the 7th
grade level. So that's the platform from which I build my documents.
"Always write to the lowest common denominator."
I agree with David...America is dumbing down. But I also see (and agree
with!) the need to "de-formalize" some of what we do in order to increase
readership and appeal.
Is it wrong? No, I think it's a requirement. If we wish to remain
effective, we must be willing to move with the industry or strive to be
innovators.
I don't know about all of you, but it's my experience that some of the most
impressive documentation I've seen has *not* been done by Tech Writers.
(Not all, I don't mean to sound an alarm, but I've seen some great "out of
the box" work done by these people.)
I guess I'm with the "less formal" crowd. I write fairly in a fairly
informal style which fits my audience. I'm not trying to "dumb them down",
but appeal to my readership.
-Collin Turner
On 2/7/06, Dubin, David wrote: > Here is one man's (very jaded) opinion.
(Bringing out soap box) > > It seems to me that there is a "dumbing down"
of communications at every > level of American society. Collin refers to it
as a trend towards > informality, but I see this as a much more insidious
threat to our culture. > It goes hand in hand with our children's inability
to read and write at > grade levels consistent with the Flesch-Kincaid
reading index or understand > math beyond basic arithmetic. > > I don't
know how the school system in your state/county/district works, but > our
school board in Pinellas County, Florida, wants to do away with the >
valedictorian and salutatorian because they don't feel it is fair to the >
other students. And we wonder why Americans cannot compete in a global >
economy. (Putting away soap box) > > Sorry, I had to vent. > > David B.
Dubin, PHR > Senior Curriculum Developer > Sage Software > 727-579-1111 x
3356 > david -dot- dubin -at- sage -dot- com > Your business in mind. > > -----Original
Message----- > From:
techwr-l-bounces+david -dot- dubin=sage -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com >
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+david -dot- dubin=sage -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
> Of John Garison > Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 12:09 PM > To: Collin
T > Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com > Subject: Re: Formality is going
bye-bye? > > Hi Colin, > > IMHO, they know their audience, and they're
talking clearly and directly > to them. > > I don't have a real problem
with this. But then I advocate using > contractions in my documentation,
too. Anything that makes the content > more readable and less off-putting
is a good thing. If formality is a > barrier between me and my audience,
and if I can get my message across > while using less stilted language, I'm
all for it. > > Ever read the manuals associated with games? They're pretty
informal, > too. And I believe one of them won an STC Best of Show award a
few years > ago - complete with torn pages, 'handwritten' crib notes, and
so forth > ... it made the documentation part of the game. > > As long as
accuracy and completeness are not compromised - and the > Google Q&A format
does a good job of presenting complete information - I > say go for it.
ANYTHING that will encourage (and not discourage) people > from reading and
learning is acceptable (as long as it doesn't alienate > other readers). >
> Hmmm ... maybe instead of levels of documentation: beginner, advanced, >
wizard - we need to think about age stratification: teenz, adults, and >
mature.
--
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic
hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.
There's also a negative side."
- Hunter S. Thompson
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