Re: A philosophical tech writing question

[john -at- garisons -dot- com]

It depends on what you mean by "personality".

I don't think that there's a lot of the author's personality in tech
writing. Their understanding of the subject matter and its context, yes.
Their ability to communicate, yes. But their individual personality, I
hope not.

This is not to say that tech writers don't have an individual style. I
have had people tell me that they knew which sections of a document I
wrote and which were written by others, but it wasn't because of anything
of "me-ness" that was present, it's just because my writing style is
slightly discernable.

My 2¢,

John G

>> Is in truly possible to remove yourself
>> completely from what you write. Even when it's
>> completely cut and dry on the surface, and you've
>> deliberately tried to make it so, is it still
>> going to have SOME trace of your character, personality,
>> etc. in it?


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