Re: Shakespearean Techncial Writing

[SEnglish -at- MICROS -dot- COM]

     I'm sure Geoff has heard this more than a few times by now, but the
     metaphor example is actually a simile. A metaphor would read more
     like, "the trash can on the Mac desktop is a purgatory to which the
     souls of dead files are sent, from there to be resurrected or
     consigned forever to the flames".

     But that's really a minor quibble. My major objection in this thread
     is to those who agree that as technical writers we don't use rhyme,
     etc. To which I replies, "Sez who?" I once had to write a set of
     instructions for restaurant employees who regularly worked a
     complicated catering event. Earlier attempts at manuals had been
     inconsistently read and indifferently followed. The manual I delivered
     was patterned on (okay, a blatant ripoff of) Dr. Seuss' "One Fish, Two
     Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish". The staff spent so much time laughing at
     it and making fun of it that they "accidentally" learned the material.
     Anyone who didn't follow procedures could count on those around him to
     chant the relevant verse, and avoiding this kind of agony quickly
     became a major motivation for employees to learn the material.

     Would I use rhyme regularly in technical writing? Of course not, no more
     than I would always allow an allotment of alliteration to alight. What I
     *would* do is assess the audience first, and *then* decide which tools
     in the box were right for the task. That means not ruling out metaphor,
     foreshadowing, rhyme, meter, alliteration, or even fortuitous
     circumstance if it gets the job done.

     Steve English
     MICROS Systems, Inc.


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