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Re: Boring documentation?

Subject: Re: Boring documentation?
From: Janice Gelb <janice -dot- gelb -at- sun -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 11:51:13 -0800

David Loveless wrote:

Agreed, it is risky for some audiences. But it appears to me that the
people who are turning their noses up at it are the ones who are
"educated" in that field. The fact that they have sold millions of
copies is a testament that that audience is millions strong.


I think that as technical communicators our primary
goal is to communicate *to our audience* appropriately.
People documenting commercial end-user software, such as
Microsoft Word, can probably use a more informal, chatty
style successfully. People documenting UNIX system
administration who use that same style are not going
to be successful and are likely to be seen as condescending
or not authoritative. I don't think it's productive to talk
about which style is "better." This is definitely not a
"one size fits all" profession.

-- Janice
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Follow-Ups:

References:
RE: Rhetoric And Technical Writing?: From: Steven Brown
Boring documentation?: From: Geoff Hart
Re: Boring documentation?: From: David Loveless

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