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Subject:Re: Use of the First Person From:"Bergen, Jane" <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 30 Jan 1998 10:41:48 -0600
Although I often use the second person ("you"), I never use the first
("we" or "I"). It seems too informal and intimate. In the case you cite,
I'd use "The team found..." or "The researchers found.." That way you're
still using active voice, but it's more formal.
FWIW, I think we (there I go) technical writers are often too paranoid
about using the passive. Most grammar/composition texts allow it when
you want to diminish the impact of the actor. For example, it may not be
important, or in some cases it's downright distracting, to always use
the active voice. For example, "When the scientists put the widget in
the goo...." is sometimes (emphasis is "some") better to say "When the
widget was placed in the goo..." when it doesn't matter for clarity WHO
did it. I will almost always try to use the active voice, but sometimes
(especially when documenting esoteric telecommunications activity), the
passive voice just makes more sense.
I can hear the cries of "heresy" already,
Jane Bergen
On Friday, January 30, 1998 10:20 AM, Dan Sabin
[SMTP:dsabin -at- ELECTROTEK -dot- COM] wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm an engineer, and I recently submitted a paper to a pretty
well-known
> standards organization. The reviewers rejected my paper mainly for
> stylistic reasons, especially as related to my use of the first person
> "we" when I was referring to myself and the other researchers on the
> project. For example, instead of saying, "The researchers found...,"
I
> often stated "We found..."
>
> I was surprised that the reviewers reacted so negatively to the first
> person, especially as a friend who is a technical writer told me that
in
> most business/technical writing, it's best to avoid the third person
and
> passive voice. I thought using "we" would make my writing more
> accessible to readers, and I wanted to avoid the stuffiness and
> formalism of constantly saying "the researchers..." According to the
> reviewers, using "we" in a professional document is not an acceptable
> technical writing style.
>
> I wonder what you technical writers have to say about this...Is using
> "we" inappropriate in a professional report that basically summarizes
my
> research findings to engineering colleagues?
>
> Just Curious,
>
> Dan Sabin
>
>
>
> Send commands to listserv -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu (e.g., SIGNOFF
TECHWR-L)
> Search archives at: http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html,
