Re: active vs. passive voice

Subject: Re: active vs. passive voice
From: Janice Gelb <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:07:05 +1100

Leonard C. Porrello wrote:
> I'm with Nina, and Janice may be right. I don't have strong convictions
> one way or the other. It does seem to me that if the user didn't bother
> reading both sentences before executing the task, he probably won't go
> back to verify what happened against the text anyway. I'd argue, then,
> that if he is going to read both sentences at all, it will be before
> executing the task. Granted that, would you (Janice) still object to my
> grammar?
>

Yes, I would. Our style assumes that readers read along
with the bouncing ball:

4. Click Tools->Fring
["Right, did that"]
The Fring dialog box appears.
["OK, that worked"]
Before continuing to the next step, make sure that
you have disconnected the framajam."
[*whew* That was a close one!]


> I do like Janice's suggestion of front-loading warnings. At the same
> time, I worry that, being out of context, the reader may not take them
> in anyway.
>

They're only out of context if you assume that
the reader is reading them after performing the
step rather than before. Otherwise, they're leading
into the next action in the sequence.

-- Janice

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References:
active vs. passive voice: From: Michelle Vina-Baltsas
Re: active vs. passive voice: From: Mike Starr
Re: active vs. passive voice: From: Suzette Leeming
Re: active vs. passive voice: From: Bastette
RE: active vs. passive voice: From: Leonard C. Porrello
RE: active vs. passive voice: From: Fred Ridder
RE: active vs. passive voice: From: Leonard C. Porrello
Re: active vs. passive voice: From: Janice Gelb
RE: active vs. passive voice: From: Nina Rogers
RE: active vs. passive voice: From: Leonard C. Porrello

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