Aw: Re: The Gerund

[Nina Barzgaran <e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net>]

   I also think it's a 'style thing': partly based on 'fashions' in
   language usage.
   In general, I think the best practice in technical writing these days
   on the one hand is easy/simple language. White space used with care.
   Less nested sentences are more. 'Vocabulary' fitting the audience.
   Consistency, especially as regards terminology.
   On the other hand, I also noticed that each company at some point
   defines their own style guide, perhaps based on others already
   published.
   So, it's style that 'melts into the background' as it were, to make
   reading and understanding of your documentation easy/fast/efficient for
   your target audience. That could include carefully used gerunds, where
   appropriate, in my opinion.
   As I also like to put it: "It depends." Target audience and product and
   deliverable being the decisive aspects, to my mind.
   Kind Regards
   Nina


   Gesendet: Dienstag, 30. Mai 2023 um 08:00 Uhr
   Von: "Elisa R. Sawyer" <elisawyer -at- gmail -dot- com>
   An: "Carolyn Palo" <carolynpalo -at- gmail -dot- com>
   Cc: "Tech Writers" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
   Betreff: Re: The Gerund
   It's actually a style thing. Using gerunds has been popular in the past
   and
   might be coming back into style.
   I prefer to use the imperative.
   On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 7:13PM Carolyn Palo <carolynpalo -at- gmail -dot- com>
   wrote:
   > Hello,
   >
   > My training and experience as a tech writer has always been "against
   the
   > gerund." Where I am working now, the gerund is everywhere and I
   brought
   > up
   > the topic. It will be a topic for the next website release where doc
   and
   > training info are available. I was surprised there were so many and
   no
   > one
   > on my team thought about it.
   >
   > I checked out the DITA site ([1]https://www.dita-ot.org/dev/) for
   comparison,
   > and also saw many gerunds. I am surprised.
   >
   > Besides the issues of translation costs, wondering what the general
   feel
   > is
   > about using them in online documentation for a global audience?
   >
   > Thank you,
   > Carolyn
   >
   > *Carolyn Palo*
   > *Professional Writer *
   > Phone: 617-491-0551
   > Email: carolynpalo -at- gmail -dot- com
   > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   > Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content
   strategy and
   > content development | [2]https://techwhirl.com
   >
   > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   >
   > You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as elisawyer -at- gmail -dot- com -dot- 
   >
   > To unsubscribe send a blank email to
   > techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
   >
   >
   > Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
   > [3]http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more
   resources and
   > info.
   >
   > Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our
   online
   > magazine at [4]http://techwhirl.com
   >
   > Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our
   public
   > email archives @ [5]http://techwr-l.com/archives
   >
   --
   Elisa Rood Sawyer
   ~~~~~^~~~~~
   Technical and Creative Writer
   "Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today." Mark Twain
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy
   and
   content development | [6]https://techwhirl.com
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net -dot- 
   To unsubscribe send a blank email to
   techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
   Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
   [7]http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources
   and
   info.
   Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our
   online
   magazine at [8]http://techwhirl.com
   Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
   email archives @ [9]http://techwr-l.com/archives

References

   1. https://www.dita-ot.org/dev/
   2. https://techwhirl.com/
   3. http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/
   4. http://techwhirl.com/
   5. http://techwr-l.com/archives
   6. https://techwhirl.com/
   7. http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/
   8. http://techwhirl.com/
   9. http://techwr-l.com/archives
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | https://techwhirl.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-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


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

Looking for articles on Technical Communications?  Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions?  Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives