Slithery Words

[Beth Agnew <bagnew -at- INSYSTEMS -dot- COM>]

This recent snippet got me thinking:

> Eric J. Ray wrote:
> Address the issues (that is, what people SAY, not what you read
> into what they say), and nothing else.
>
Would that it were that easy, words being the slithery things that they are.

--Wayne
Wayne Douglass wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM

As technical communicators, we usually write objectively rather than subjectively.
(Gross generalization, I know.) We usually need to convey how-to information
in concise, accurate fashion, with little regard to the voice or mood of our text.
Indeed, really good technical writing is transparent, unnoticed by the user as
s/he follows a procedure or explanation. Above all we strive for our writing *not*
to be misunderstood.

Yet, there are times when we need to make more intimate contact with the
reader. We may need to be reassuring, provocative, even argumentative to
make our documentation work as needed. In writing, therefore, should we not
be able to construct sentences in such a way that we control, or at least
mitigate, the user's emotional reaction to our words?

My question to spur discussion is, "What techniques do you use to give
your writing more precision, to elicit the reaction from the reader that you
want to achieve?"

Any takers?

--Beth

Beth Agnew
Senior Technical Writer, InSystems Technologies Inc.
mailto:bagnew -at- insystems -dot- com             Tel: (905) 513-1400 ext. 280
                        Fax: (905) 513-1419
        Visit us at: http://www.insystems.com

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