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Re: Formality is going bye-bye?

Subject: Re: Formality is going bye-bye?
From: "Melissa Nelson" <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Tue, 07 Feb 2006 12:59:54 -0500

I have to agree with Collin. I do not necessarily set out to pay attention to whether my writing is formal or informal. It depends completely on what I am writing. I write more informal in some of my User Guides...a tad more formally in a lot of my software documentation...and save the real formal writing for my writings on history. When you know your audience your writing just becomes geared to that audience.

I do think there is a lot, and quite often too much, dumbing down due to the Internet and I confess to occasional IM style writing in my personal emails, but that too tends to be an audience thing.

Melissa

From: Collin T To: "Dubin, David" CC: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Subject: Re: Formality is going bye-bye? Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 10:52:47 -0700

All very god points.

And you're welcome (regarding my tagline)!

I was taught that the average American reader is hanging around the 7th grade level. So that's the platform from which I build my documents. "Always write to the lowest common denominator."

I agree with David...America is dumbing down. But I also see (and agree with!) the need to "de-formalize" some of what we do in order to increase readership and appeal.

Is it wrong? No, I think it's a requirement. If we wish to remain effective, we must be willing to move with the industry or strive to be innovators.

I don't know about all of you, but it's my experience that some of the most impressive documentation I've seen has *not* been done by Tech Writers. (Not all, I don't mean to sound an alarm, but I've seen some great "out of the box" work done by these people.)

I guess I'm with the "less formal" crowd. I write fairly in a fairly informal style which fits my audience. I'm not trying to "dumb them down", but appeal to my readership.

-Collin Turner



On 2/7/06, Dubin, David wrote: > Here is one man's (very jaded) opinion. (Bringing out soap box) > > It seems to me that there is a "dumbing down" of communications at every > level of American society. Collin refers to it as a trend towards > informality, but I see this as a much more insidious threat to our culture. > It goes hand in hand with our children's inability to read and write at > grade levels consistent with the Flesch-Kincaid reading index or understand > math beyond basic arithmetic. > > I don't know how the school system in your state/county/district works, but > our school board in Pinellas County, Florida, wants to do away with the > valedictorian and salutatorian because they don't feel it is fair to the > other students. And we wonder why Americans cannot compete in a global > economy. (Putting away soap box) > > Sorry, I had to vent. > > David B. Dubin, PHR > Senior Curriculum Developer > Sage Software > 727-579-1111 x 3356 > david -dot- dubin -at- sage -dot- com > Your business in mind. > > -----Original Message----- > From: techwr-l-bounces+david -dot- dubin=sage -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com > [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+david -dot- dubin=sage -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf > Of John Garison > Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 12:09 PM > To: Collin T > Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com > Subject: Re: Formality is going bye-bye? > > Hi Colin, > > IMHO, they know their audience, and they're talking clearly and directly > to them. > > I don't have a real problem with this. But then I advocate using > contractions in my documentation, too. Anything that makes the content > more readable and less off-putting is a good thing. If formality is a > barrier between me and my audience, and if I can get my message across > while using less stilted language, I'm all for it. > > Ever read the manuals associated with games? They're pretty informal, > too. And I believe one of them won an STC Best of Show award a few years > ago - complete with torn pages, 'handwritten' crib notes, and so forth > ... it made the documentation part of the game. > > As long as accuracy and completeness are not compromised - and the > Google Q&A format does a good job of presenting complete information - I > say go for it. ANYTHING that will encourage (and not discourage) people > from reading and learning is acceptable (as long as it doesn't alienate > other readers). > > Hmmm ... maybe instead of levels of documentation: beginner, advanced, > wizard - we need to think about age stratification: teenz, adults, and > mature.




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