TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> There are risks to using humor, including:
[snip]
I think you may have missed the most important one: humor may interfer
with your attempt to communicate.If the point of tech-writing is to
deliver information quickly and accurately,then humor is simply a
distraction: it's more text to scan, and it's not the information that
readers are looking for.
If you examine the Dummies book, you'll notice that humor is very
carefully placed. There's cartoons and possibly a few jokes in the
introductory sections of each chapter or section, but, once serious
information is being delivered, the humor almost disappears. In other
words, the humor is generally separated from the serious material, and
this difference is largely consistent and supported by the book design.
As a result, people trying to find information in a Dummies book don't
have to re-encounter the humor when they don't want it.
Also, the Dummies books are not the same as a manual. The Dummies books
are meant to be read thoroughly, but it's rash to assume that a manual
will be read the same way.So, what's acceptable in a Dummies book - and
may even attract the audience - isn't necessarily acceptable in
documentation.
I'm very aware of this difference when I write a magazine article on a
technical subject. The information that I present very dryly and
matter-of-factly in a manual has to be livened up for presentation in an
article.
"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"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Experience RoboHelp X3! This new RoboHelp release combines single sourcing,
print-quality documentation, conditional text and much more, into the most
monumental release of RoboHelp ever! http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
FrameMaker-to-PDF TimeSavers Assistants let you enhance & automate navigation
in PDF doc sets (chapter tabs, next/prev chapter/pg, bookmarks, popup menus);
create interactive PDF forms, rollover popups; presentations: http://www.microtype.com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
