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Subject:Re: Wordiness and Complete Sentences From:Sarah Perrault <sarahp -at- KEYSAFE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 21 Jun 1996 08:08:00 PDT
>I am leaning toward reworking a significant portion of the manual in
>favor of incomplete sentences where appropriate/useful/necessary.
>What would/do you do? Agree? Disagree? Thoughts? Comments?
Agree.
When writing for admins/programmers, I'd use the style they prefer - after
all, we try to tailor the docs to the audience, right?
When I write for a non-technical audience I often do both -- "bury" the
information in complete sentences, but also provide lists, tables,
appendices etc that give "unburied" access to the same stuff. In one manual,
I presented the same information four ways. This was an extreme example, but
it worked -- once in paragraph/explanation format, once in a table, and
twice in flow charts. (I would have done only one flow chart but my division
head made a chart *he* liked so I put it in too.)
Sarah
------------------------
Sarah Perrault
Technical Writer
Supra Products, Inc.
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