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17 lines
1.8 KiB
Plaintext
17 lines
1.8 KiB
Plaintext
created: 20150110182900000
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modified: 20150117152555000
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title: Technical Prose Style
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tags: [[Improving TiddlyWiki Documentation]]
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When writing an [[instruction tiddler|Instruction Tiddlers]], start by planning a route through the information you wish to present. This should be a simple, logical, direct progression of thoughts, with no backtracking or forward references. Use this approach even within individual sentences: always proceed from cause to effect, from the old or known to the new or unknown.
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Keep sentences short and simple. A clear technical sentence seldom contains more than one idea. It therefore avoids parenthetical information. Similarly, keep paragraph structure simple. A flat presentation is often easier to understand than a hierarchical one.
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It is often possible to simplify a sentence without changing its meaning, merely by adjusting its vocabulary or grammatical structure. <<.word "Execution of the macro is performed">> just means <<.word "The macro runs">>. <<.word "Your expectation might be...">> just means <<.word "You might expect...">>.
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Prefer the active voice by default: <<.word "Jane creates a tiddler">> rather than <<.word "a tiddler is created by Jane">>. The passive voice can be useful if you want the reader to focus on the action itself or its result: <<.word "a tiddler is created">>. But it can often be clearer to proceed from cause to effect and say <<.word "this creates a tiddler">> in the active voice.
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Documentation often presents two items that are parallel either by similarity or by difference. The reader will more easily detect such a pattern if you use the same sentence or phrase structure for both. But this must be balanced with the need to avoid monotony.
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Prefer precise instructions over woolly descriptions. If something has a name, use it. If something lacks a name, give it a tiddler.
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