Aw: Re: The Gerund

Subject: Aw: Re: The Gerund
From: Nina Barzgaran <e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net>
To: "Elisa R. Sawyer" <elisawyer -at- gmail -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 30 May 2023 10:52:56 +0200

I also think it's a 'style thing': partly based on 'fashions' in
language usage.
In general, I think the best practice in technical writing these days
on the one hand is easy/simple language. White space used with care.
Less nested sentences are more. 'Vocabulary' fitting the audience.
Consistency, especially as regards terminology.
On the other hand, I also noticed that each company at some point
defines their own style guide, perhaps based on others already
published.
So, it's style that 'melts into the background' as it were, to make
reading and understanding of your documentation easy/fast/efficient for
your target audience. That could include carefully used gerunds, where
appropriate, in my opinion.
As I also like to put it: "It depends." Target audience and product and
deliverable being the decisive aspects, to my mind.
Kind Regards
Nina


Gesendet: Dienstag, 30. Mai 2023 um 08:00 Uhr
Von: "Elisa R. Sawyer" <elisawyer -at- gmail -dot- com>
An: "Carolyn Palo" <carolynpalo -at- gmail -dot- com>
Cc: "Tech Writers" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Betreff: Re: The Gerund
It's actually a style thing. Using gerunds has been popular in the past
and
might be coming back into style.
I prefer to use the imperative.
On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 7:13PM Carolyn Palo <carolynpalo -at- gmail -dot- com>
wrote:
> Hello,
>
> My training and experience as a tech writer has always been "against
the
> gerund." Where I am working now, the gerund is everywhere and I
brought
> up
> the topic. It will be a topic for the next website release where doc
and
> training info are available. I was surprised there were so many and
no
> one
> on my team thought about it.
>
> I checked out the DITA site ([1]https://www.dita-ot.org/dev/) for
comparison,
> and also saw many gerunds. I am surprised.
>
> Besides the issues of translation costs, wondering what the general
feel
> is
> about using them in online documentation for a global audience?
>
> Thank you,
> Carolyn
>
> *Carolyn Palo*
> *Professional Writer *
> Phone: 617-491-0551
> Email: carolynpalo -at- gmail -dot- com
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> Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content
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--
Elisa Rood Sawyer
~~~~~^~~~~~
Technical and Creative Writer
"Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today." Mark Twain
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Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy
and
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You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as e -dot- dickinson -at- gmx -dot- net -dot-
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
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[7]http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources
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References

1. https://www.dita-ot.org/dev/
2. https://techwhirl.com/
3. http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/
4. http://techwhirl.com/
5. http://techwr-l.com/archives
6. https://techwhirl.com/
7. http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/
8. http://techwhirl.com/
9. http://techwr-l.com/archives
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Visit TechWhirl for the latest on content technology, content strategy and content development | https://techwhirl.com

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Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

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References:
The Gerund: From: Carolyn Palo
Re: The Gerund: From: Elisa R. Sawyer

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