Re: non-parallelism - looking for the ok to let it go...

[Tony Chung <tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca>]

Monique:

It's a PowerPoint slide deck, so you'd best be careful that the
information is accurate and that the author's call to action is
plainly obvious. If there is any ambiguity at all, that slide deck
could be blamed for another catastrophic disaster.

Accuracy, clarity, and a strong "so what?" message trump parallelism
just because the tech writer thinks consistency is important.

Then there's the thought that maybe the info graphic needs to change.

So many alternate realities!

Cheers,
-Tony



On 2011-07-26, at 3:10 PM, Monique Semp <monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net> wrote:

> Hello writers (on two lists; sorry to clutter up you multi-list subscribers’ inboxes),
>
> So I’ve got a bundle of PPT “vertical block list” smart art diagrams (really just nice graphics around two-level bullet lists) that the client really likes and wants me to include in a Best Practices doc. There’s all sorts of wonderful info in those “diagrams” and I’ve had no problem writing lots of good context and details.
>
> The only issue is... there’s just no good way to force parallelism in the diagrams’ text lists. I can get the “level 1” points to parallel without much awkwardness, but then the “level 2” points are all over the place: present-tense verbs, imperative verbs, nouns, phrases, you name it – it’s all in there.
>
> I’m inclined to just let it go because the content *is* what’s important (and perhaps I’ll have time or inspiration while they’re performing their reviews to actually make real progress on the parallel dream), and I’m looking for an ok from the tech writing community :-).
>
> Aside from a rap on the knuckles (or no award if I were to enter this doc in the STC competition – but please don’t let this thread devolve into a heated STC discussion!), what can happen after all, right?
>
> Let the machinations begin,
> -Monique
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
> Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
> Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
> http://www.doctohelp.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca -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/tonyc%40tonychung.ca
>
>
> 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.
>
> Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.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.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat