Re: Overuse of gerunds in headings

["Paul W Goddard" <paulwgoddard -at- gmail -dot- com>]

This is my first attempt to post to this or any list and I am not at all
certain I'm doing it right. I found no instructions. Could someone point me
to some?

The psychology of gerunds is that it indicates to the reader what they are
to be doing. It conveys action. I generates expectation. Nominatives, such
as introduction or overview, may be accurate, but they contain no energy; no
user interaction. Closely related to gerunds is "How to..."

On 4/4/06, William Turner <wturner -at- force10networks -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Whirlers,
>
> I have worked in several Pubs departments where the standard heading
> style was defined as requiring gerunds.  That works fine for me when the
> subject is Installing, Configuring, Restoring...stuff like that.
>
> However, for an introductory chapter or section, am I breaking a
> well-established standard by calling it, for example, "Introduction
> to..." or "Overview of..."?  I usually see, in similar situations, that
> the author uses "Understanding ..." in order to conform to gerund
> orthodoxy.  For some unknown reason, that "Understanding ..." bugs me.
>
> -- Will
> ~~~~~~~
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
> format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
> delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
>
> Doc-To-Help includes a one-click RoboHelp project converter. It's that
> easy.  Watch the demo at http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as paulwgoddard -at- gmail -dot- com -dot- 
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/paulwgoddard%40gmail.com
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -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.
>
>


--
Paul W Goddard
Technical and Business Communications
425-238-1732
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help includes a one-click RoboHelp project converter. It's that easy.  Watch the demo at http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com

To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -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.