Re: Techwriting after the boom

["Michael West" <mbwest -at- removebigpond -dot- net -dot- au>]

"Bruce Byfield" <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com> wrote in message news:201505 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 

> I think you need to ignore Andrew's hyperbole
> and pet-topics and put
> aside your own animosity.
> Focus on what he is saying.

When we write, our exact words are "what we are
saying." Whether or not they convey our meaning to
others is another question -- and one that
is central to any assessment of our skill as writers.
One mark of the skilled writer is care and precision
in language. Bruce Byfield, for example, displays
care and precision in his interesting post.

There is only one thing I would criticize in Bruce's post.
I think what Bruce means with respect to the message I
was replying to is not "focus on what he is saying", but
"try to guess the actual intent behind the torrent of hyperbole
and polemic, and then focus on that, rather than on what he is
actually saying." In other words, "focus on what he is not
saying."

Sometimes I try, but mostly I just say to myself  "Oh stuff it" -- 
a fine Australianism that conveys a good deal more than it
actually says.
--
MW





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