Re: Death knell for quality content?

Subject: Re: Death knell for quality content?
From: Ned Bedinger <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com>
To: Will Sansbury <wsansbury -at- alpha -dot- ipswitch -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:33:11 -0700

Will Sansbury wrote:

>
> Poor quality writing forces the reader to disengage from the
> message of the writing to figure out if they misread or if the writer
> blundered. Anything that forces the reader to step away from the message,
> even briefly, represents a communication failure.
>

I think that some bad writers do manage to bind their meaning to their
less-formal communication patterns--it may make my eyes stutter and my
mind falter to read, but it can succeed in getting sophisticated
technical messages across. In many cases, for someone to try and convert
such bad writing to good writing is to seriously overestimate the
importance of good writing.

I'm not trying to be a heretic about the value of good writing, but
since I have already probably stepped in it by endorsing some bad
writing, I'll try to finish the thought:

Sometimes it seems that the absence of good writing is taken as a sign
that the information is bullsh*t free. IOW, good writing can mean that a
writer/filter has come between the information source and the receiver,
resulting in prescriptively good writing, but at the cost of
information and accuracy that was mysteriously integrated with the
original bad writing.

If you think back far enough, I'd be surprised if you or anyone in tech
writing hasn't been scorched by a SME for inadvertently changing some
crucial meaning while trying to dress up some awkwardly written source
material. For sure, I know about smouldering tail feathers (my own) at
that level, and that is one reason why I qualify the idea of 'good
writing' this way.

YMMV.

Ned BEdinger
doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.


References:
RE: Death knell for quality content?: From: Al Geist
RE: Death knell for quality content?: From: Lauren
RE: Death knell for quality content?: From: Will Sansbury

Previous by Author: Re: suggestions on how to "hide" UI-based topics in online Help TOC?
Next by Author: Re: Persuading people to take the right action
Previous by Thread: RE: Death knell for quality content?
Next by Thread: RE: Death knell for quality content?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads