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RE: fwd: you or he/it

Subject: RE: fwd: you or he/it
From: "Melissa Nelson" <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 09:06:28 -0400

My company tends to like me to use the term "the user" whenever possible. During writing I always slip into using "you" and have to go back and change it to the user...I would rather be informal but alas..I do not sign my own paychecks :(
Of course the tech writer in Denmark uses "you" all the time..and it doesn't get changed..sigh! Oh well..such is the life of a lowly tech writer :)

Melissa





From: "Anonymous Poster" <techwhirlanonpost -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Reply-To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
To: techwhirlers <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Subject: fwd: you or he/it
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 08:01:18 -0500

This message was forwarded anonymously on request. If you want the
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Contact Lisa lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com with questions.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hello group,

I'm in the midst of a (major) disagreement at my place of employment.
Since beginning my career as a Technical Writer, I've had it pounded
into me that we are to use the "you", eliminate "it/he/she", keep it
informal and to the point, and use present tense WHENEVER possible.
Make it simple and easy to follow.

We now have a new Japanese Project Leader who wishes me to create a
completely new, FORMAL format, eliminating you, sprinkling it/he
liberally, and generally, creating a document that (in my opinion
only) would be very difficult to read through, especially for our
Target Audience. (Admininstrative IT personnel)

What I'm asking for is your collective opinion about this. Do you have
background in this within your own company? What did you do? I'm
searching on the internet for examples, pulling out all my books,
getting everything together to show that the style we use is a common
practice in the Industry, and not a flash in the pan. Even if you use
another style, could you tell me about that?

I would appreciate any help. Most of our customers do not read the
documents anyway (fact of life), but I don't want to turn off the few
that do. OH, let me add, we are in Europe, so most readers are ESL
(English as a Second Language).

Many, many thanks.

The Beleaguered Tech Writer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help includes a one-click RoboHelp project converter. It's that easy. Watch the demo at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

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