RE: The 'user' in User Manual

["Lauren" <lt34 -at- csus -dot- edu>]

I have an easier time writing without pronouns.  I also have an easier time
reading documents that do not use pronouns.  I get annoyed when I see "you"
in documentation and even more annoyed by he and she references or even
worse "he/she" references.

Now if the style of documentation for a collection of documents follows a
particular convention, then it is best to continue using that convention
because consistency is key.  If bad writing is the convention, then adopt a
compatible but cogent convention.

Preference can play a factor here, but habit is also a factor.  I tend to
write in a consistently neutral voice in technical writing because that is
the habit that I have developed.  Changing the voice to say "you must do
something" would be more work for me because that is not how I write.  So
deadline pressures tend to cause me to produce documentation that is clear
and cogent, but may lack some softening familiarity.  I have never had
anyone tell me my documents were too hard, so I have never really tried to
soften it.

I've never heard the phrase "the old saw about foolish consistency."  When
did consistency become foolish?  I might not understand what you are are
saying here.

Lauren

-----Original Message-----
From: Ned Bedinger [mailto:doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com] 
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 3:03 PM
To: Lauren
Cc: 'Techwr-l'
Subject: Re: The 'user' in User Manual

Lauren wrote:
> OMG!  I read the manual for Test Director and nearly every sentence 
> included the word "you."

Using the pronoun with imperative voice is useful, but just a way of keeping
the reader engaged, which (IMHO) is a problem more appropriate for the
reader than the writer. Deadline pressures can bring out the obsessiveness
of rule-driven writing--the old saw about foolish consistency applies here.

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