Re[2]: his/her > A New Editing Question

["Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- OKWAY -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>]

Michael Hollinger said:

>Another good option is to use "one" which avoids the problem of
>plurality as well as gender.

>I.E. One should type "Format c:" to drive one's boss nuts....
                                '''
I have found that saying "one could" tends to confuse people. Usually saying
"Do this, do that, format c:" makes it clearer to the users, so they know
that it is an instruction, not an explanation of options or possibilities.

In the same vein, how do people handle editing structures, words, or
constructions which they don't like? I would probably change Michael's example,
but I don't really have a concrete reason other than my personal
preferences.

In my situation, when a programmer writes some instructions (which will be
published under his name in the newsletter I edit), I have problems deciding
what to keep and what to change. Rewriting passive to active may make it more
usable, but it could also just reflect my preferences, biased as they are.

There is such a large gray fuzzy area between "improving" the piece and
just imposing my voice on the piece (which I of course would regard as
improving it because I like my voice ;-)  ).

What do you all think?

Eric
ejray -at- okway -dot- okstate -dot- edu