Re: "You may click" vs. "Click"

[Shelley Larock <larock -at- TYCHO -dot- ARH -dot- CDC -dot- COM>]

>  When writing instructional materials, I assume all of you write
>  in the second person: "At the prompt, type blah blah blah..."

>  But do you ever write, "At the prompt, YOU MAY type blah blah to
>  access the system"?

>  I never add the "you may's." But an editor friend of mine said
>  this has become a BIG issue in her office; she wondered what
>  others are doing.


Although I would've opted to write in second person, we have been
told to make sure everything in the manuals we're writing is in third
person.  I'm not sure why.  My personal preference is "You may"
because it seems more to-the-point.  When I read something written this
way it seems like there is actually someone telling ME how to do
something.  Like I said, just a personal preference.

In the manuals we're writing it is a lot of the same instructional-type
content.  We have been writing mostly in third person.  For some
reason the company wants things like, "THE USER can initiate actions
by ..."  In our writing we use third person, but in dealing with
developers and people in marketing we use a more direct approach.

I think we noticed it from the folks in marketing first.  Whenever
we would approach (ambush?) them for information, we noticed it
was too easy for them to say, "THEY have to do blah, blah, blah,"
or "THE USERS can't do blah, blah, blah."  Well as writers we
also have become users (hurrah!) and we found that if we asked someone
for information it was harder for them to tell us that WE couldn't
do something or WE had to do something.  It seems as though people
don't like to say, "YOU can't do this" or "YOU have to do this."

For what it's worth,

Shelly La Rock
larock -at- tycho -dot- arh -dot- cdc -dot- com