Re: techwr-l digest: August 01, 2005 - cert comment and over-sized doc

[tarage -at- bellsouth -dot- net (imac)]

David Neeley wrote:
>Mike,
>
>I disagree. While tastes in light reading vary widely, people
>everywhere appreciate instructions that get to the point. I daresay
>your search for "culturally bound" traffic signs might be rather
>futile--to give an example, albeit an extreme one. Further, "concise"
>does not necessarily imply "austere."

Manuals are not equal to traffic signs. Neither is what I do nor most
technical writers do, churning out text for traffic signs. There's a lot
of cultural baggage that comes along with the concept of a manual, or
any written document really. (How could it be otherwise?) Compare the treatment of annual reports in Japan
to those of the United States. The Japanese place a big value on beauty
even in these rather austere financial documents, which is why you'll
see pictures of flowers, garden scenes, and so forth, with text
surrounding them. It's jarring if you don't know the cultural
background. 

Other cultures do not favor the direct approach that linear cultures,
such as the U.S, the UK, and Australia, favor. Others may use a zig-zag
approach or a spiral approach to "get to the point." Again, you're more
than welcome to try the linear approach in South Korea or the Czech
Republic. 

>There is a parallel between constructing a technical document and
>editing a novel: if a given bit does not contribute to the objectives

Again, this only works in a linear culture. 

>I remember my high school English teacher when he used a rather pithy
>definition of writing clarity: "It should be like a lady's skirt--long
>enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting!"

Again, that's culture. And even in English cultures, more than once,
have writers been told to put in more examples, more details, more, more,
more, rather than to leave them out. This at least was typical where I
worked for a time. I'm all in favor of giving the customer what they
want. 

~Mike

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l


---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.