Re: Advice on starting out; dealing with employers
In any case, it's a bad idea to double space when writing *content* - better to apply (or remove) at the formatting stage, for certainty and consistency.
Another caveat: if you *must* double space, be aware that some authoring tools disallow it by default. I'm thinking Framemaker and Syntext, here.
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:35:33 -0600
From: lists -at- soph-text -dot- com
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Advice on starting out; dealing with employers
Chris Morton wrote:
> [. . .]
> One tip I'm going to offer right away is to eliminate using two spaces > after
> punctuation in all further communications. Regardless of how you were > taught
> in high school or college, this convention became an anachronism as manual-
> and non-IBM Selectric typewriters became relegated to The Antiques Road
> Show.
>
Man, I can't believe that this keeps rearing its ugly head. I am not
going to try to start this same tired old fuss-session up again (well, I
guess I am, but only quickly), but other than the result being "pretty"
and that it's "just not cricket", do you think there might be another
reason why you might want two spaces after a period instead of one?
I would think that it would depend on your audience and not on your own
delicate sense of style. There are groups of people with learning and
reading disabilities (such as dyslexics) that find it difficult to read
through or scan a document that looks as if it is rammed altogether.
Since many of these people are taught to read patterns, they will look
for a larger space between sentences to give them visual cues.
Also, since the documents we create are suppose to be information tools
first and lovingly crafted examples of personal expression second, I
would think that we would be willing to over look the desperate need to
spend time debating one or two spaces and decide what is best for our
end-readers. If, in your best estimates, you are in a domain that
"would probably not have too many people who struggle to read", then one
space would be just fine.
It can also be argued that a work of fiction, which IS art (for the most
part), should have one space, because two spaces breaks up the aesthetic
of the page, but I don't think that we intentionally write fiction.
Just sayin'
--
Carter Campbell
Technical Communications
lists -at- soph-text -dot- com
Calgary Alberta
> On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 8:31 AM, Joan Wamiti > <jwamiti -at- breakeveninc -dot- com>wrote:
>
>
>> Hey All,
>>
>> I'm new here, both to the list and to technical writing. I've been >> lurking
>> for a few weeks, browsing the archives and reading the daily digests with
>> interest.
>>
>> Some background: I've just been hired by a tiny software/consulting firm
>> as
>> a Business Analyst. However, since I have a little experience with
>> writing,
>> they'd also like me to be responsible for their documentation needs -
>> mainly
>> a help guide/wiki for the software that our clients use. There's also >> talk
>> of a blog...
>>
>> My undergrad was a combination of Math and Economics, and my writing
>> experience comes from writing personal projects and working as a
>> copy-editor
>> for the on-campus newspaper. Technical/scientific writing is something
>> that
>> I've been interested in for a long time, and I've done some investigation
>> into courses/online resources.
>>
>> Questions:
>> 1. What are some good basic resources for someone just starting out? I
>> was
>> thinking about a dictionary and a technical style guide (I'm used to using
>> a
>> journalism one), but I feel like I need more information specific to
>> writing
>> user guides. I'm ok on the language front, but I'm at a loss when it >> comes
>> to file formats, document layout etc. Right now I'm writing everything up
>> in Word 2010, then emailing it to my boss, who inserts screenshots and
>> converts it to pdf. In reading some of these threads, it's pretty clear
>> that I have a lot to learn, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with
>> unnecessary information.
>>
>> 2. What should I keep in mind when dealing with my employer? My bosses
>> have technical backgrounds and only have the haziest idea of what their
>> requirements are - they want a wiki, client-specific help guides, and a
>> blog. They have no idea of what a style guide is or why anyone would need
>> one. I feel like I come off sounding fussy and pedantic about getting
>> documentation right, but I want to do a really good job with it, even if
>> I'm
>> just a beginner. I've clarified who my primary audience is (the end-user)
>> and the blog isn't a priority right now.
>>
>> 3. Credit/attribution - how do I address this with my employer? I've
>> already written up some user documentation for clients. I'd like to be
>> able
>> to use some of what I've done for a portfolio, but I'm dealing with a lot
>> of
>> proprietary information, some of which I can't just scrub/block out
>> (describing processes etc.). I've only started working for this company
>> and
>> I'm hesitant to bring this up right away, but I don't want this to become >> a
>> problem later on. I know I could save all my work for a portfolio and use
>> it anyway, but I'd rather have permission.
>>
>> 4. How do I deal with previous documentation? There's already some
>> existing documentation that I'm expected to review (and most probably
>> revise). Some of it is inconsistent, jargon-filled and unclear, and
>> there's
>> a lot of Power Point presentation style to it (lots of unneeded bullet
>> points and sentence fragments). I don't lie when the previous writer asks
>> me about it - I do my best to be tactful with questions/comments since the
>> person who wrote it is my boss, but he doesn't seem to think that the
>> inconsistencies/lack of clarity matter. What's a good way of showing him
>> the importance of documentation?
>>
>> These are the main issues I've been thinking about. I'd appreciate it if
>> you could let me know if I'm on the right track, or if there's anything
>> else
>> I should think about.
>>
>> Oh, and this is supposed to comprise a fraction of my normal duties.
>>
>> Joan
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Follow-Ups:
- Re: Advice on starting out; dealing with employers, Ned Bedinger
References:
Advice on starting out; dealing with employers: From: Joan Wamiti
Re: Advice on starting out; dealing with employers: From: Chris Morton
Re: Advice on starting out; dealing with employers: From: Carter Campbell
RE: Advice on starting out; dealing with employers: From: Jimmy Breck-McKye
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