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Subject:Re: Generally, what do you think of generally? From:"Mark Baker" <mbaker -at- omnimark -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 8 Feb 2000 12:16:01 -0500
Ackerson, Allan wrote
> Kill all adverbs in technical writing. By definition, technical writing
is
> precise. If you can't express a concept without generalizations become a
> novelist.
And while you're on, beat up the prepositions, cripple the pronouns, and
give the gerunds the flu.
Technical writing is a job title, not a writing style.
All we do is write how-to books. The diversity of subjects and audiences for
how-to books is far too broad to permit any generalizations about style or
appropriate language.
And, to be precise:
* Technical writing is not precise "by definition", it is precise "of
necessity", which is quite a different thing.
* You can't express a concept without generalization. A concept is a
generalization. (Webster's defines concept as "an abstract of generic idea
generalized from particular instances".)
