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Subject:RE: You VS One From:"Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- Users -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 5 Jun 2008 12:09:32 -0400
I would say that in technical writing, "You" is preferable, because it
sounds more natural and less stodgy. "One" sounds like you're putting on
airs, although it once was the standard for formal, academic wiring.
Actually, IU was directly involved with a related situation when I
co-authored a textbook with my mother, who had written the previous
editions on her own. It was a book on cataloging, and her previous
editions used phrases like, "The beginning cataloger will notice ..." or
"The beginning cataloger should be aware that ... " The first thing I
did was to go through and replace every instance of "The beginning
cataloger" with "You."
(She was mildly annoyed at me for doing this, but even MORE annoyed when
the reviews started appearing that talked about how very readable the
book's style was.)
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