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Does a Professional Tech Writer need to follow Chicago?
Subject:Does a Professional Tech Writer need to follow Chicago? From:"Mark L. Levinson" <mark -at- MEMCO -dot- CO -dot- IL> Date:Sun, 22 Aug 1999 15:50:23 +0200
Dave writes:
For example (and please don't start a thread on this!), I like to use the
serial comma. I think it's cleaner and clearer. Let's say you have a
sentence...
** First of all, if you can't control the urge to expound on the
serial comma, what makes you expect other people to?
But if the Chicago Manual of Style says you should never use
a serial comma,
** Secondly, I believe that Chicago does favor the serial comma.
At least my aging edition of it does.
should I bleat and just accept it?
** Some day your choices will be questioned. At the very least, you
may face a new employee or contractor who wants to understand how
to do things your way, and you will have an easier time with "We
follow Chicago" than with "We do what I like." You don't want to
be consulted personally about every little thing. It's a waste of
time, and people may resent decisions that you find hard to justify.
The best compromise is to leave the bulk of the rulings to your
favorite style guide (be it Chicago or whatever) and supplement that
guide with a written treatment of the issues that you believe are
important enough to warrant divergence from that style; and be
prepared with a justification on each of those issues.
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Mark L. Levinson - Memco Ltd. - Wallenberg 24 - 69719 Tel Aviv - Israel
tel. 03-6450049 (home 09-9552411 or 09-9555720, shoe phone 051-377181)
fax 03-6450001, e-mail mark -at- memco -dot- co -dot- il (home nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il)
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