Some of the longest running and most popular threads on the TechWhirl technical writing email discussion list concern questions of grammar and usage. Voice, tense, gerunds, initialisms, jargon, serial commas, abstract concepts, synonyms, audience appropriateness… we all run into these kinds of issues at some point. Our question this week has to do with how you address those inevitable brain freezes, questionable connotations, circular arguments and fuzzy thinking.
Perhaps you have a SME with an inflated sense of grammar propriety. Or, you’re dealing with a new concept that defies easy description. Maybe your technical document is running to multiple hundreds of pages, and there’s got a be a way to shorten the explanations. And quite possibly, like some of our recent posters have pointed out, sometimes you just have a brain freeze and need a little help.
Technical Writing Resources: Which ones are Best?
What resources do you use the most, and which ones are most reliable in answering those usage and grammar questions? We’d love to know your thoughts in our poll and in the discussions below.