RE: active vs. passive voice

Subject: RE: active vs. passive voice
From: "Nina Rogers" <Nina -dot- Rogers -at- DrakeSoftware -dot- com>
To: "Janice Gelb" <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:43:27 -0400

I am a tech writer, so I shouldn't admit this, but ... while I'm pretty
good about reading manuals (and not just looking for how I could have
written them better, ha ha), I'm very bad about clicking buttons as soon
as I read that I'm supposed to click them. For example, if I were
sitting in a military aircraft, reading the manual instruction that
says, "Press the EJECT button to forcibly eject yourself from the
plane," I would never get past "Press the EJECT ..."

Nina Rogers, Technical Writer
Tax Development (Federal)
Drake Software

-----Original Message-----

One could equally assume that readers are doing the
action when you tell them to do so and that they they
read the result after they've performed the action.
(As we all know, sometimes users just perform actions
by guesswork without reading any documentation at all!)

I think it's dangerous to assume that readers read the
explanatory text before they commit themselves to
performing an action. I often ask writers to move any
warning or information that it's important for the
reader to know before performing an action to a location
prior to the imperative instruction to avoid a situation
where the reader clicks first and then finds out later
that this action wasn't appropriate for the situation.

-- Janice
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -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%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.


Follow-Ups:

References:
active vs. passive voice: From: Michelle Vina-Baltsas
Re: active vs. passive voice: From: Mike Starr
Re: active vs. passive voice: From: Suzette Leeming
Re: active vs. passive voice: From: Bastette
RE: active vs. passive voice: From: Leonard C. Porrello
RE: active vs. passive voice: From: Fred Ridder
RE: active vs. passive voice: From: Leonard C. Porrello
Re: active vs. passive voice: From: Janice Gelb

Previous by Author: RE: active vs. passive voice
Next by Author: RE: Using DITA map to build FrameMaker book
Previous by Thread: Re: active vs. passive voice
Next by Thread: RE: active vs. passive voice


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads