Re: Funny Tech Writing

Subject: Re: Funny Tech Writing
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2002 10:59:03 -0700


Ymorrigu -at- aol -dot- com wrote:

For everyone who thinks that the instructions for the watch are not funny, please go and take a look at the product. The Timex website has pictures and descriptions of it at helix.timex.com. If you decide that you would not buy the watch, you are not its target audience, which may be part of the reason why you do not find it funny.

It's not a matter of being part of the audience. I learned long ago to separate my personal opinion from my judgement of a piece of writing.

For example,in academic boot camp (or grad school as you might have heard it called), I was forcibly exposed to large doses of Henry James. I freely admit that he's extremely intelligent and insightful, and a first rate writer - but, personally, I would rather be dragged face down through broken glass than read him in my own time.

The same thing goes with the watch instructions. All my experience as a writer in general and as a tech-writer in particular warns me against this type of writing.

Partly, my reservation is that the style just isn't very functional. However, I also don't think that this example is an especially good one. I have seen this type of writing work - notably in some Dummies books - but not here. It needs more restraint than is shown here.

--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield

"We are not beginners, we will not be fooled,
Time has been our teacher, and it keeps an iron rule:
We do our best work in the dark, we do our thinking on the run,
We will stay together till the longest day is done."
- OysterBand, "A Fire Is Burning"



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References:
Re: Funny Tech Writing: From: Ymorrigu

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