Re: Use of "your"

[Cheryle Wiese <cjwiese -at- HOTMAIL -dot- COM>]

I concur, Beth. :) I have a B.A. in English and am pursuing the
Technical Writing Certificate as an additional credential to help me
achieve my goal of becoming a Tech Writer.

I only wish more companies were interested in hiring writers who
appreciate writing as an art--*sigh*.


>Date:         Thu, 17 Jul 1997 12:39:44 -0400
>From:         Beth Agnew <bagnew -at- INSYSTEMS -dot- COM>
>Subject:      Re: Use of "your"
>To:           TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>
>Ugh, when I hear blanket statements such as " it's more "reader
friendly"
>and the impersonal "the user" or whatever should be reserved for
>scientific academia" I get very antsy. (Not picking on you Cheryle --
just
>your instructors!)
>
>The use of "your" cannot be relegated to a generality. It all depends
on the
>style of writing, the context, the AUDIENCE, the way in which the
>information will be used, and so forth. Sometimes it's "your keyboard"
and
>sometimes it's "the keyboard". Technical writing is an art as well as a
>science, (and a craft, and a skill...) and I want to be able to use the
>entire palette of colors (words), all the many millions of 'em to shade
my
>writing, not be limited to a few because of policy.
>
>Sure, I've got a style guide in my office, which I wrote, and it does
>contain generalities, but it also talks about areas where the rules
should
>be broken.
>The richness of the language allows us to express things in the way
that is
>most appropriate for the person receiving the communication. Writing
>technical information doesn't always mean writing "technically".
>
>(See what happens when you let people with Fine Arts degrees into
technical
>writing?) :-)
>--Beth
>
>Beth Agnew
>Senior Technical Writer, InSystems Technologies Inc.
>bagnew -at- insystems -dot- com            Tel: (905) 513-1400 ext. 280
>                        Fax: (905) 513-1419
>        Visit us at: http://www.insystems.com
>
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