TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Contractions & Style From:Scott Miller <smiller -at- PORTAL -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 22 Jan 1999 11:48:32 -0800
And here I thought that contractions are, like, totally OK and we had
resolved this issue years ago. A nice by-product of using contractions is
that you can get a little bit more oomph when you don't use them. For
example, there's a subtle difference between "can't" and "cannot" and
"don't" and "do not." If it's really important that the reader not do
something, I use "do not." Kind of the same difference as "have to" and
"must." Or, to exaggerate it somewhat, the same difference as "come here"
and "get your butt over here now."
- Scott M
smiller -at- portal -dot- com
--------------------------------------------------
> <snip>I'm seriously thinking about "lightening" my style, but want to
> hear
> some other opinions before I propose this to my manager. I don't want to
> go as light as the "Dummy" books, but somewhere in between would be nice.
>
