Carrying out?

Subject: Carrying out?
From: Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 09:35:39 -0400

Chris Borokowski wondered: <<You might carry out your laundry, but is
this the best usage we can find for what is done when a command is
executed? Ex: To carry out the command, click Run. The lights on your
hard drive will flash as it is formatted.>>

The best solution is to eliminate all vague, non-specific phrasal
verbs and replace them with a verb that describes the actual action.
Here: "To format your hard drive, click Run."

If the context is already painfully clear (e.g., the sentence that
introduces a series of steps says "Perform the following steps to
format your hard drive"), you can simply eliminate the verb and list
the steps. The context is clear enough that (in most cases) it does
not require repetition. The exception is for an obvious situation
such as providing a warning. For example: "Warning: If you perform
the next step in this procedure, formatting will begin and all
information on your hard drive will be erased."

Note that in this example, the message does not just repeat a
description of the task: it conveys the meaning and consequences of
the task. That's important, particularly for readers who may not
understand the task fully.


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
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Coming soon: _Effective onscreen editing_ (http://www.geoff-hart.com/
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Follow-Ups:

References:
Carrying out: From: Chris Borokowski

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