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The Seattle/Bellevue Chapter of the STC just held a meeting where the topic
was about adding humor to procedural writing, and it was given by Dave
Farkas. He used the Dummy series and I'm suggesting the Idiot's Guide
series of books as examples of ways to integrate humor into technical
writing. Maybe taking alook at those examples will give you some ideas. I
like the concept but it depends on the company and its audience. For an
internal audience, I think humor is a great idea.
Too bad you missed the meeting. STC is getting good again. Hope you come to
future meetings. It sounds like this was a topic you could have used.
-----Original Message-----
From: Amy G. Peacock [SMTP:apeacock -at- WOLFENET -dot- COM]
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 1998 7:44 AM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: Humor in writing -- AGAIN?
First, let me apologize for bringing up this tired old subject again.
I find myself facing this question, however, and I hope that someone
can give me an idea or two. Respond off list - let's assume everyone
is sick of this topic.
I just received some valuable and rare feedback from my bosses about
my current project. One of my bosses in particular really wants me to
add some humor to the documentation. I have fought this, of course,
not because I have an aversion to humor, but because I really don't
know how to make it funny. I tried explaining to my boss that this
kind of thing doesn't just materialize out of thin air. I tried
warning them of the problems with using humor in documentation -- to
no avail. So it seems that I am left with the task of trying to be
funny. "Amy! Get out there and be funny, dammit!"
I have tried to make my writing casual and have added a header or two
that is amusing - at least the first 100 times you read it. But they
want more!
I don't want to just give up on it. If funny headers will make my
bosses happy and help some end users relax about using a new tool then
I'll do it. But how? Any ideas?
I should also point out that this documentation is for an internal
audience.
Amy Peacock
techwriter & jewelrymaker
Snohomish, Washington
apeacock -at- wolfenet -dot- com
