Re: Use of the First Person

[Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET>]

Welcome to the turgid, turbid, pompous world of academic writing, Dan.
There is some small defense for what they say, because "we" can sometimes
refer to the reader, as well, but it's a tiny breath of a defense.

The reality is that English is broken out with tacit distinctions between
"them" language and "us" language. This is but one example. Another is a
heavy reliance on passive voice in academic writing. In the past few
decades, as more people have qualified for advanced degrees, the
distinctions have faded somewhat and now even technical journals can
occasionally have truly readable articles. But in my experience, the more
high-toned the language, the less substance there is. In research-oriented
writing, as in physics, there is elegance and power in the small and simple.

That said, it's also true that you can't spit into a hurricane and if the
objection to the pronoun "we" is the worst thing you have to contend with,
then be comforted. There are many other imbecilities that are sometimes
harder to work around, such as the insistence on never ending a sentence
with a preposition or always listing the other person first in any list
("you and I" and not "I and you"). At Simply Written, accuracy and
precision are sacrosanct, but if they're not at issue, the next question is
the phrasing's effect on the reader. Sometimes grammatically correct
sentences are harder to read than ungrammatical ones, making our choice an
obvious one.

The reality, though, is that we all have to put up with editors, clients,
bosses, and sometimes even subject matter experts who fancy themselves as
expert in writing as they are in, say, shuffling papers across the desk.
These people are often gatekeepers to where we want to be and they will not
be mocked. My advice is to always ask for a style guide recommendation
_before_ you start to write. Then grit your teeth and put up with the
absurdities, or move on to another publication if your teeth won't stand
for it. Then make your writing as clear and simple as it can be within
those boundaries. Look at your publisher's stand not as a right-wrong
issue, but as a stylistic idionsyncrasy.

>I'm an engineer, and I recently submitted a paper to a pretty well-known
>standards organization. The reviewers rejected my paper mainly for
>stylistic reasons, especially as related to my use of the first person
>"we" when I was referring to myself and the other researchers on the
>project.  For example, instead of saying, "The researchers found...," I
>often stated "We found..."
>
>I was surprised that the reviewers reacted so negatively to the first
>person, especially as a friend who is a technical writer told me that in
>most business/technical writing, it's best to avoid the third person and
>passive voice. I thought using "we" would make my writing more
>accessible to readers, and I wanted to avoid the stuffiness and
>formalism of constantly saying "the researchers..." According to the
>reviewers, using "we" in a professional document is not an acceptable
>technical writing style.
>
>I wonder what you technical writers have to say about this...Is using
>"we" inappropriate in a professional report that basically summarizes my
>research findings to engineering colleagues?
>
>Just Curious,
>
>Dan Sabin



Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
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