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george -dot- m -dot- hook -at- accenture -dot- com wrote:
> And finally, what are you doing about style books these days? I'll bet
> it's the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications for most of
> you, but how do you introduce it to an engagement? Do you tell a client
> that this is the style book I use, and you should too?
I can't improve on Dick's answers to your other questions. However, here
I would add: most companies aren't even aware that style books exist. In
most cases, you can just use whatever seems useful.
You can even wing it with some success, depending on your audience. The
MMOSFTP makes many useful distinctions, but if your end-users are simply
average chair-keyboard interfaces, they probably aren't aware of the
distinctions, and would only be distracted by your attempts to teach
them.
And, if you're a lone writer, there's probably not much point in getting
too worried about style books anyway - just be consistent in your usage.
The value of a style book comes in team projects, or with documentation
that you plan to hand off to someone else.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"Down at the river one day waits the ghost
Turning into the people that we hide from the most."
-Rev Hammer, "Drunkard's Waltz"
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