Voice is (a) Best Practice

Josef Verbanacverbanac@montana.edu

Writing is easy!

(Perhaps not…)

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Voice “The combination of a common usage of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text.”

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Basically: “How to make your writing meaningful to the reader.”

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Something is definitely missing…

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What about Audience?

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What about Content?

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What about Design?

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A better model: Who are your readers? What should they know? How will you tell them?

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First, the Who:

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How do you figure out who your readers/users are?

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Second, the What:

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How do you know what they need?

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Third, the How:

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How do you address them appropriately?

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And when this happens?

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You can’t just say:

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Iterate!

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And those best practices?

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Your Peers:

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The Experts:

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Industry Standards:

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Current Style Guides:

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Eventually:

verbanac@montana.eduRoll Your Own.

≠

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To recap: Know your audience. Manage the content. Design systemically.

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Writing complements code.

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References

Carey, Michelle, et al. Developing Quality Technical Information, 3rd ed. Indianapolis: IBM Press, 2014.(http://www.amazon.com/Developing-Quality-Technical-Information-Handbook/dp/0133118975/)

DeRespinis, Francis, et al. The IBM Style Guide, 1st ed. Indianapolis: IBM Press, 2011.(http://www.amazon.com/IBM-Style-Guide-Conventions-Writers/dp/0132101300/)

Google. Material Design. Google.com, 2016.(https://www.google.com/design/spec/style/writing.html)

The Economist. Style Guide. Economist.com, 2016.(http://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction)

Microsoft. Microsoft Manual of Style, 4th ed. Seattle: Microsoft Press, 2012.(http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Manual-Style-4th-Corporation/dp/0735648719/)

Pinker, Steven. The Sense of Style, 4th ed. New York: Penguin Books, 2015.(http://www.amazon.com/Sense-Style-Thinking-Persons-Writing/dp/0143127799/)

Strunk, William and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. New York: Pearson, 1999.(http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X/)

University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. Chicago: UCP, 2010.(http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Manual-Style-16th/dp/0226104206/)

Zinsser, William. On Writing Well, 30th Anv ed. New York: Harper, 2016.(http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548/)

verbanac@montana.edu

verbanac@montana.edu

Image Sources

[How to draw an owl]https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/d3zhx/how_to_draw_an_owl/?

[Wikipedia: Writer's voice]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer%27s_voice

[Faceless crowd]http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/03/7-3-billion-people-one-building.html

[Ranger lunar probes slip chart – NASA]NASA. (1977). “Lunar impact: A history of project ranger.”(http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19780007206_1978007206.pdf)

[Visco, Frank L. “How To Write Good.” Writer’s Digest: June, 1968.]https://betterwritingnow.com/2013/11/26/some-comic-relief-how-to-write-good/

[Brentingby Derailment]https://www.flickr.com/photos/frosted_peppercorn/205501453/

[RTFM coffee mug]https://www.flickr.com/photos/99247795@N00/2263136517

[ICRAVE open office]http://www.icrave.com/project/icrave-studio/

[Google Material Design: Writing]https://material.google.com/style/writing.html

[Hello, my name is]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DS4mHVsJThA/VD8xpclcs1I/AAAAAAAA2m0/xBTTYJnrEF4/s1600/mynameis.png

[Perfect English Grammar logo]http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/

[StackOverflow logo]http://stackoverflow.com/