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If you can't find any samples of bad tech writing, what you could do is take a paragraph from an academic paper that's full of convoluted, jargony sentences (in one of the particularly theoretical fields like philosophy, film or architectural theory, or anthropology) and re-express the core idea in simple terms.
Although if they don't already take your word, as a native English speaker, about how to communicate effectively in English, you may never get through to them.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=kronos -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=kronos -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Zev Levi
Sent: February-20-17 2:24 AM
To: techwr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Subject: Nightmare Library
Hi all,
I work in a country where English is spoken as a second language (if at
all) and I often find myself explaining to product managers and developers why their documentation ideas are troublesome. ("Yes, the sentence you changed is clear to you but, as it's now five lines long, it is confusing to readers. We must explain ideas using shorter sentences.")
Is anyone aware of a virtual library of bad-documentation examples (a library of tech-doc nightmares)? I'd like to search for *long sentences* and find examples of unclear documentation.
It would be easier to convince PMs of writing guidelines if they tried reading a doc that didn't follow them.
I haven't had any luck googling these terms; I'm looking for documentation examples and google generally returns links to forums.
Cheers
Zev
--
*Zev Levi*
Technical Writer
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