[FM Discuss] Style Guide?

[Tomi Toivio]

Yes,

I know that a style guide is highly useful when you are working as a
professional technical writer for a big company and it is hard to work
without one. However, FLOSS Manuals should be open for anybody to edit. I
think that the compulsory use of a huge style guide in every possible manual
would be a really big hurdle for a person who is not a professional
technical writer.

Why not just agree upon style guides separately for each manual? If the
writers are willing to use one they should do it.

Also, here in Finland technical writers usually write in English when
working for companies and use the same style guides mentioned in the
original email. It would be hard to find such technical writing style guides
for the Finnish language. And at this stage we don't have the committee
needed to write one.

Regards
Tomi

2009/12/4 Lana Brindley <lbrindle at redhat.com>

>
>
> This is an awesome idea. I'm a professional open source technical writer.
> I've been lurking around on the FLOSS Manuals mailing list for a little
> while now, waiting for a project to pop up that I can get my teeth into.
>
> Firstly, your idea is a great one. In my experience, writers like nothing
> more than to argue the finer points of grammar and spelling, word use, and
> what - exactly - constitutes word abuse. Having a style guide is the only
> way to successfully end an argument that would otherwise go on forever. It
> also means that the results of these discussions get set down and are used
> in future docs. No point going back over the same arguments every second
> week.
>
> I am not going to try and convince detractors like Adam and Tomi that a
> style guide is the way to go. Simply put, the concept of producing
> documentation *without* a style guide is quite appalling to me. I know of no
> professional writer or editor who would even consider attempting to publish
> quality documentation without some kind of style guideline (be it an
> internal word usage guide, something like Chicago, or even just a preferred
> dictionary). I personally would be hesitant to contribute to any project
> that not only did not have a style guide, but actively prevented people from
> creating one.
>
> All that said, as my very first FLOSS Manuals project, I would like to
> offer to help William with the development of a FLOSS Manuals Style Guide. I
> believe that no documentation project should go ahead without one, and so I
> think it's an appropriate place to begin.
>
> Thanks William, for bringing this up.
>
> Cheers,
> Lana
>
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>
>


-- 
Best Regards
Tomi Toivio
Open Source Coordinator
http://fi.flossmanuals.net/
tomi at flossmanuals.net
+358445488856
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