Re: Humor as a communication technique

[John Posada <posada -at- FAXSAV -dot- COM>]

I've done my best to stay out of this discussion, since by nature of the
subject, is subjective rather than objective.

However, I came across a comment in a posting that made me reread it three
times.

>>>To the many existential hells I've accumulated over my life, I will
now add "reading a 'humorous' technical document written by someone
who thinks Tim Allen is funny."<<<<

I happen to think Tim Allen is funny.

However, just because I do, I don't automatically believe that humor in
tech docs is appropriate, and if I do in a rare case, (though I cannot
think of a case at this time), it would not be the Tim Allen type of humor.
That's like saying that if I think Poe is a good writer, then I have to
create software manual that reads like "The Tell-Tale Heart". One has
absolutely nothing to do with the other.

The problem with putting humor in a tech doc is that while having it in may
only offend 1 in a thousand, NOT having it in will not offend anyone.

Write for the style of the audience. It may be a writing style completely
foreign to you, but since you aren't writing it for yourself, it doesn't
matter.


John Posada, Technical Writer (and proud of the title)
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  "One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem,
see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable
words.", Goethe
  "Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader
will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will
certainly misunderstand them.", John Ruskin