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.
I had a similar dilemma recently when I did a user manual for a SEI-CMM
Level 4 Company (meaning they have standards for everything!). Of course,
I knew my suggestion would not be accepted. What I did was to create a lot
of filler items like tips and help to put on the blank pages. This is
typical technique which magazine and newspaper editors do to fill in the
"holes" -- quotes, blurbs, statistics, illustrations, cartoons.
I have seen several books and manuals using this technique effectively and
consistently. Say a cartoon as the last item to fill the empty page. It
not only lightens the page, but shows some creativity. I would go in for
items like Tips & Tricks, sales pitch for Service, Reminders about the
Software, etc.
To cast my vote: I would definitely not put the legend "This page
intentionally left blank". I think the best practice is to leave it blank
-- with or without the headers/footers. Anyway, your writing should be
such that a close is indicated for the end of the chapter.
Good to be back on this list folks.
Guru (in Guam)
guru -at- ite -dot- net
http://members.tripod.com/~Kamath (TWIN site -- India's first site on TW)
TWIN - Technical Writers of India mailing list (120 members strong!)
At 09:30 AM 4/30/98 GMT, Iain Harrison wrote:
>If you write
>"This page intentionally left blank"
>on the page, it isn't blank, is it?
>
>A better solution would be to write
>"This page intentionally left almost blank"
>but in my view this is just as stupid.
