Use of first, second, and third person in technical writing?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Lisa Dugger wondered: <<Which is proper?  Since I rarely see anything 
in first person, I gather that first person is not the desired 
viewpoint.>>

If you remember that documentation is about the user, not about you, 
you'll see why first person is rare. First-person plural is relevant 
and useful in some contexts, such as the following: "After losing 
several fingers during the development of this tool, we strongly 
recommend that you wear chainmail gloves while using it." OK, that's a 
facetious example, but it illustrates the point: "we" works well when 
you need to identify the source of a recommendation. However:

<<In the past I have written using second person because I wrote for my 
team members or individual users.  Now I have an official tech writing 
position and I am unsure of which perspective to use.  Third person 
sounds so stiff, but is it more professional?>>

Second person works best in many cases because it allows the use of the 
imperative voice: "Do this, then do that, then be glad you didn't lose 
any fingers." It's concise, focuses on the reader, and is generally 
quite effective... which is why it's becoming standard practice.

Of course, this is an example of where you're telling the reader to do 
something. When you're not, second person isn't necessary and may even 
be inappropriate. Consider, for example, how natural it is to say the 
following: "Gloves less than 2 inches thick won't protect your 
fingers." You could say "Wear gloves at least 2 inches thick...", but 
if you're describing a situation rather than telling someone to do 
something, second person isn't necessary.

Third person is generally less effective because it is more verbose and 
in some styles, distances the reader from the action. "Chainmail gloves 
should be worn" offers no benefits over "wear chainmail gloves--or 
else", and sets up an odd dynamic: "We're talking about the reader; if 
we had meant _you_, we'd have said _you_, so get over yourself 
already". That's why you find it "stiff". Moreover, using third person 
often (as in my example at the start of this paragraph) leads to 
inappropriate use of passive voice. Passive voice is inappropriate if 
it leaves the actor implicit when the actor should be explicitly 
identified. "The gloves should be worn" suggests, but does not make it 
clear, that you, the reader, should be the one who wears the gloves.

Third person is, of course, perfectly appropriate when you want to 
focus on "he or she or they" or "him, her, or them". For example: 
"After you install Microsoft FingerMangler(R), instruct users to wear 
gloves at all times. They must not use this evil device barehanded--we 
can attest to this from firsthand experience."

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Geoff Hart   ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
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