Re: Retaining author's voice, was How to Use English PunctuationCorrectly - wikiHow

[Janice Gelb <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM>]

Dori Green wrote:
> I was taught that technical writing is "writing to inform".  Just the facts, Ma'am.  Personality and "voice" are not among the required deliverables -- in fact, one of the most important functions of an editor is to blend the different styles and "voices" of a team documentation effort into one cohesive unit.
> 
> _Depending on the audience_ and the _customer's requirements_, I might insert a light and breezy "voice" for ad copy or a magazine promo article -- or I might engage a professorial stentorian resonance for an ivy-covered journal.  
> 

I think we've all been using the word "voice" in two different
ways:

* The "tone" of a piece -- For example, the formality
of language and level of vocabulary should differ between
a tutorial or beginner's user's guide and a technical
reference manual.

* Writing style -- All writers have their own style.
Even when all the writers at a company are adhering
to the style guide and writing grammatically correct
prose, they each will write in a slightly different
way. Perhaps one writer has favorite phrases that he
uses often, or another writer tends to explain things
using more analogies.

Editors need to make sure that all documentation from a
company sounds the same, appropriate to the audience level.
OTOH, that doesn't mean that the documentation has to sound
like it was written by a robot, or all written by the editor!
I think we should strive to keep some of the writer's style
in documentation without compromising consistency, appropriateness,
or common corporate "feel."

-- Janice

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