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Thanks for that lovely segue into the topic of future tense to show sequence.
It can be OK to use the future tense to express a causal link, rather than time.
The trap to avoid is "Free Food, tomorrow." in the reader's mind. :-)
== Tips to feel comfortable with the present tense ==
=> Think in terms of status change, after the fact; not in terms of potential
happenings in the future. Click button X. The window disappears.
// The proximity of the sentences lets the user make the connection.
Writing "The window will disappear." leaves the user guessing as to
"When? Soon? Right away? Does it matter?"
=> If a user works in the "now", can one expand the present to, say,
"all acts needed to complete a procedure"? If one injects a bit
of future tense, what about the next steps, which are also in
the "future"? Future perfect? :-)
=> The fatalism of a process helps write in the present tense.
(Think of that famous fatalist quip by the servant in Diderot's
_Jacques le Fataliste_:
--- The Master: "But what if it had happened?"
--- The Servant: "Impossible; since it did not.")
=> Cause can be expressed in other ways than using the future tense.
In logic there's "if... then..."; in procedures, we number steps.
Sub-titles such as "Preparation", "Result", and other paratext,
also help the reader figure out sequence. If one avoids putting
the cart before the horse, the future tense is rarely needed.
(or <grin> "will rarely be needed"? :-)
=> For help from way-out-in-left-field, there's _Bearing an Hourglass_, :-)
the novel by Peirs Anthony. In it the Incarnation of Time is
moving "backward" through time. Now there's an interesting
writing challenge.
=> The OED sums it up: "future tense, a tense of verbs expressing
events that have not yet happened." Well, technical writing talks
about repeatable events that always happen--or at least, that should
always happen :-) For the user, the procedures are always there now:
whether in the past, present or future.
Cheers,
YJ
Kathleen MacDowell <kathleen -at- writefortheuser -dot- com> a écrit : Fred, All,
This is one instance in which I probably disagree with (some/many) technical
communicators. IMHO, the software doesn't do something when you press a
button, it will do something when the button is pressed (or more actively,
Press the button and the x screen [or whatever] will be displayed, etc.)
I argue that the additional clarity added by the appropriate tense offsets
the additional words. If someone pauses to think through what is written,
everything is consistent. Otherwise it isn't.
.02
On 7/9/07, Fred Ridder wrote:
>
> If the context here is technical writing rather than
> general English composition style, my suggestion is
> to consider carefully whether the use of future tense
> is really necessary. In technical writing, the future
> tense is generally not necessary to the meaning
> you are trying to convey, so that it is often more
> appropriate to eliminate instances of "will" from the
> outset rather than agonize over whether you need
> to add even more of them in the interest of grammatical
> correctness.
>
>
> >From: Ben
> >To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> >Subject: Grammar Question
> >Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 16:01:22 -0700
> >
> >Sorry for the basic grammar question.
> >
> >
> >
> >Example: He will draw a picture and write his name on it.
> >
> >
> >
> >Question: Does the second verb phrase imply the use of the helping or
> >auxiliary verb "will?" Or, must one explicitly write in the word "will?"
> Is
> >it necessary?
> >
> >
> >
> >Thanks!
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> Kathleen MacDowell
> www.writefortheuser.com
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