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When you are giving an instruction in your documentation, do you first
give the instruction, then identify the need or condition, or do you
identify the need or condition first and follow it with the instruction
First state the purpose, then provide the instruction. Doing the reverse
may tempt a reader to perform the action without knowing what will
follow. For example, I would not want a reader to "Press Escape to delete
all data" while simply reading and mindlessly following direction. So, I
would write, "To delete all data, press Escape." Then the reader can say,
"Oh. I don't want to do _that_."
Technical Writer
Computer columnist for _Ohio Valley Computing_
Co-Author of the IDG book _Internet Gizmos for Windows_
