On Fri, 23 Nov 2018, Larry Kollar wrote:
Nowadays, minimalism is all the rage. Omit needless words, as
Professor Strunk wrote in 1918.
A (shortened?? 26-page) version of which is at
https://faculty.washington.edu/heagerty/Courses/b572/public/StrunkWhite.pdf
The 4th and latest edition is 109 pages in total. The original was done
as part of Project Gutenberg.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37134/37134-h/37134-h.htm
although I prefer the version 'extended' by E.B. White.
Not sure that 'minimalism' is the same as 'omit needless words' but then,
I do not write user manuals for a living like Larry.
My manpages are written to explain that upon which I have been working.
The big problem is being able to step back from work with which one is
highly familiar and being able to explain it to a newcomer. So, content,
clarity and consistency (of style) is crucial! Strunk has some nice advice
on style in his Chapter V.
In what seems like a gazillion years ago, both DEC and IBM wrote manuals
using a subset of English to make their manuals easy to read for those for
whom English was not a native language. I would love to be able to find
the rules which governed the writing of such manuals.
Regards - Damian
P.S. Strunk has his detractors (although I am not one of them)
http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/LandOfTheFree.pdf
Pacific Engineering Systems International, 277-279 Broadway, Glebe NSW 2037
Ph:+61-2-8571-0847 .. Fx:+61-2-9692-9623 | unsolicited email not wanted here
Views & opinions here are mine and not those of any past or present employer
