[astcq-discuss] Re: Life Out There?
- From: birtley_kent@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- To: astcq-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 10:20:54 +1000
The tech writers bible is the AGPS Style Manual (Australian Government Printing
Service I think).
My personal opinion, structure is much more important than grammar. A good
proofreader can fix bad grammar quickly, but it takes a really good editor a
great
deal of time to fix bad structure. Bad structure leads to a whole range of
other
problems as well, such as completeness of the information, or relevance of the
information etc.
So go for training in writing principles as a higher priority than grammar - I
recommend Information Mapping taught by Tactics Consulting - unless you are
brilliant at all the rest already.
ck
> Brian O'Sullivan <cinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hi Naomi,
>
> Although I have a degree in Journalism, I have to confess that the
> level of
> grammar required for technical writing simply has to be competant. Keep
> it
> really simple. Keep it short. Keep one idea per sentence, one theme per
> paragraph. Oh yeah, did I mention keep it short?
>
> I once shortened 2 A4 pages of technical explanation to 1 sentence. No
> more
> was needed. Not one end user had the slightest idea what the longer
> version
> meant. They suspected it must have been a very complicated feature and
> didn't dare ask for clarification for fear of looking stupid!
>
> Structure and clarity are the most important points to remember in my
> opinion.
>
> Buy a dictionary. I recently undertook a contract at a past workplace.
> They
> now employ 3 writers. Not one of them had a dictionary at work.
>
> At uni the classic english usage text is "The Elements of Style" by
> Strunk
> and White. This really is the industry standard in journalism. Buy it,
> claim
> it on your tax return and impress your boss all in one go. When anyone
> questions your grammar wave the book in their face and mumble
> incoherently
> for a few minutes - that should fix it!
>
> Hmm... I seem to have started ranting a little...
>
> Regards,
>
> Brian O'Sullivan
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Naomi Kramer" <nkr@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <astcq-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 10:45 AM
> Subject: [astcq-discuss] Re: Life Out There?
>
>
> > Thanks for the replies, ppl, I'm glad to hear there are still other
> qld
> > tech writers out there! :)
> >
> > Christine, I'd be in for meeting up after work some time. Preferably
> > somewhere I can get a decent coffee with soy milk in it. Any day of
> > the week except Wednesday.
> >
> > Jean, regarding courses - part of the reason I went looking for this
> list
> > was to see if I could get help with courses/books suitable for tech
> > writing. In particular, I could really use a solid grounding in
> English
> > grammar. I have a fair idea of how to construct a relatively
> > grammatical sentence, but thanks to the NSW school system
> > switching grammar from high school to middle primary as I went
> > through my last year of primary school... I know very few of the
> actual
> > rules. I don't think I can improve much more as a tech writer
> without
> > that grounding. So... any ideas, anyone? My employer has expressed
> > some willingness to help out with costs involved.
> >
> > - Naomi
> >
> > > Hi Naomi
> > >
> > > Your mail it seems to have found me although I was never sure I was
> > > properly enlisted.
> > >
> > > But I really only remember the list functioning much when people
> were
> > > getting together.
> > >
> > > So should we go ahead and organise a meeting for after work some
> > > night? I'm not taking on the job full time - not sure what my
> > > employment situation is, but I would happily organise one meeting.
> > >
> > > Current contract is 6 weeks with QLD newspapers. Anyone know of
> any
> > > work coming up after that?
> > >
> > > ck
> >
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