TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Questions that are not questions From:Steven Jong <JONG -at- CREDTECH -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 15 Feb 1995 14:34:16 -0500
Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL> asks if a section for questions
should have each one written as a question. I'm sure I'm not putting myself
into jeopardy by saying that yes, they should indeed be in the form of
questions. In fact, in the example she cites, I think that her "silly"
solution is perfectly fine:
QUESTION: "When I request an update, my e-mail host returns a
HOST UNKNOWN message. Why?"
Variants can of course be "Why, when I request an update...?" or "When I
request an update, why does...?"
I have had editors and managers disagree with me, but I further assert that
presenting information in this question-and-answer format (now popularized on
the Internet as the FAQ) is a very effective methodology because it engages the
reader. So keep it up!
-- Steve
====================================================================
Steven Jong, Documentation Specialist ("Typo? What tpyo?")
Lightbridge, Inc, 281 Winter St., Waltham, MA 02154 USA
<jong -at- athena -dot- credtech -dot- com>, 617.672.4902 [voice], 617.890.2681 [FAX]