I enjoyed the recent Virgin Credit Card application form, e.g. "Give your other cards the flick. Transfer your balances now." I didn't apply for the card but I kept the form as a great example of "non-conformist" English which was oh-so-easy to read. Marcus Amann Technical Publications Manager TOWER Software -----Original Message----- From: Petra Liverani [mailto:petsky@xxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, 17 October 2003 11:13 AM To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: atw: Re: AND, BUT, or OR as the first word of a sentence I'm afraid I totally disagree. I have been working on insurance = documents for the past few months and with only one exception have found them all pretty deadly - not that I expect them not to be. The one that wasn't = deadly was written in a chatty style, with the occasional corny joke and yet it = was extremely informative, provided historical examples which helped me understand terms I'd seen explained several times already in "technical language" but hadn't quite got a handle on and was generally very = readable. The writer's personality came through and as far as I'm concerned that = was not an unwelcome thing. I'm not suggesting that all technical documents = be written like this and most people (including myself) wouldn't have the aptitude for it. However, apart from providing the information required = in a well-structured way, when you're writing a long document surely = readability is what you aim for - people have to get through the thing. In the hands = of a good writer a certain "style" enhances the reader's understanding = rather than reduces it. Petra ************************************************** To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to = austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to = austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject = field. To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx = with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. To search the austechwriter archives, go to = www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to = austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ************************************************** ************************************************** To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field. To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. To search the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **************************************************