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Subject:Re: Learning from others From:Doug Nickerson <Doug_Nickerson -at- ONSETCOMP -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 21 Oct 1998 11:44:30 -0400
Eileen,
I don't think you need therapy (for this difficulty anyway :-) ).
I get a kick looking at other documentation. Esp. since
writing a computer book last year, I find myself reading books and
software manuals & appreciating how the author
negotiates things that I myself find difficult.
Style and structure.
One area piques my interst: how an
author handles what Joseph M. Williams [1] calls "metadiscourse" (writing
about the writing).
For example, "In this section, I talk about this, then I discuss that."
Regards,
Doug Nickerson
doug_nickerson -at- onsetcomp -dot- com
Bourne, Mass., U.S.A.
References:
[1] Williams, Joseph M., "Style," U. of Chicago Press, 1990
Eileen George wrote:
>On the surface of it, I think her comment came from sheer ignorance.
>However, am I the only one who "reads the manual" not only to learn as
much
as I can about the software I'm using, but also to analyze the document's
structure?
> If I am, that's okay. I'll work through it . . . :-)
