active vs. passive voice

[Paul Kretschmer]

We had some anti-appears people in our group, but we overcame them.

Their argument against "appears": it made the software sound magical.  

(But marketing people think that software is magic.)

--
Paul Kretschmer | Technical Writer, Documentation
toll free 800.866.1124 x191 | local 805.699.2040 x191 | fax 805.699.2044
paul.kretschmer at yardi.com | www.yardi.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy Allison [mailto:maker at verizon.net] 
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 8:06 AM
To: Michelle Vina-Baltsas; Paul Kretschmer; techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Re: active vs. passive voice

Hi, Michelle. Yes, "is displayed" is passive, but it is perfectly
acceptable in this context. The emphasis in this kind of procedural
explanation *should* be on the action, not on the doer of the action. 

People who insist that the passive voice is never acceptable are going
overboard. 

As my youthful hero Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "A foolish consistency is
the hobgoblin of little minds."

(And, as Paul K. points out, "appears" works just as well -- unless you
have an anti-"appears" obssessive in your doc group. I have worked with
one or two, and the discussion can get ugly!)

--Nancy