Re: The Use of Future Tense in Procedures

Subject: Re: The Use of Future Tense in Procedures
From: Nicole Saleeba <nsaleeba -at- CONNECT -dot- COM -dot- AU>
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 09:14:10 +1100

Hi from a newbie...


At 01:50 PM 11/6/96 CST, you wrote:

>Or, should I write the procedure in the present tense, (i.e., Press
>the ___ key. The ______ window appears on the screen.). Is one way
>right and the other wrong, or is one preferred over the other? Does
>anybody give a hoot?

>Don Timmerman, dtimmerman -at- anl -dot- gov
>Argonne National Laboratory
>Senior Tech. Writer

I always use the present tense, ie Press the ___ key. The ____ window is
displayed, because with most of the documentation I have written (using
Internet applications) I envisage the users with the folder on the desk,
following each instruction line by line, looking for a result.

I don't imagine many users would read it all, put the book away and then
carry out the steps in this environment. The future tense is probably more
appropriate in, for example, a training context where the action will not be
conducted at the same time as the instructions are read.

Cheers
Nicole


********************************
Nicole Saleeba
Technical Writer
Melbourne, Australia
nsaleeba -at- connect -dot- com -dot- au


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