Shanghai Tech Writer

Just one more day until the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on August 8, 2008 at 8:08pm. And what’s with all the eights? There’s a reason why the Olympics wasn’t on April 4, at 4:44pm. Chinese people are very superstitious. Eight is an auspicious number. Eight, pronounced "ba" in Chinese, sounds like "fa", meaning prosperity (发), while four (四), pronounced "si", sounds like the word "death" (死).

The Book of Etiquette

Recently, Beijing officials distributed 4.3 million copies of an etiquette book outlining rules on foreign customs and good manners. These rules include questions you should not ask foreigners, fashions not to wear, and things not to do. It’s the Chinese government’s effort to bring some sort of social order during the weeks ahead when half a million foreigners visit China, perhaps for the first time. Many of the Chinese people who will also attend the Olympic games come from other parts of the country and might have never met a foreigner before. This etiquette book provides guidelines to the Chinese on how to to behave/dress appropriately in the presence of foreigners. What might have been okay to do/say/wear before is now deemed as inappropriate.

Questions you can’t ask

• religion
• age
• marital status / love life
• income / salary
• health
• personal information
• occupation
• home address

Fashion you can’t wear

• white socks with black shoes
• old socks
• outfit with more than three colors
• pajamas in public
• slippers in public
• high heels for older women 

Things you can’t do

• cut in line or not lining up
• pushing and shoving
• spit
• litter
• speak loudly in public
• public display of affection
• block subway/elevator doors
• urinate in public
• stare at obese people
• touch people (hairy arms, chests, Afros, babies, blond people, etc..)

Okay, I made up the last three items.

Needless to say, this etiquette book was not received well by the Chinese people. Some considered the book an insult while others criticized the government for compromising to "foreign customs."  "Why should the Chinese people adjust to foreign customs on Chinese soil?" one asked. And what about foreigners that wear wife beaters, baggy pants, and flip flops? Don’t even get them started on the number of restrictions that have been imposed upon the entire nation, causing disruptions in every aspect, all in the name of security measures and cutting down on pollution.

Beijing Olympics "Style Guide"

So why am I writing about this? Because I am a blogger and I blog about nonsense news.  I wanted to see if I could draw anything Olympics-related with technical writing. So that got me thinking. Lately, I’ve been reading/hearing about a whole lot of news regarding all the rules, regulations, policies, and what not, restrictions that the Chinese government imposed here in China in preparation for the Olympics. Beijing Olympics is all over the news and the coverage hasn’t been all positive. From the algae attack in Qing Dao and government’s attempt to cleanup the mess, to cutting down on the pollution level, to the Beijing Olympics etiquette book, the dos and don’ts.

What feelings do these news reports incite other than a sentiment of ridicule and preposterousness over all the extreme measures taken?

What, you can’t drive today because your license plate ends in an odd number? What, you have to move and live somewhere else for the entire summer? What, you can’t send any chemicals and electronic device by mail? What, the entire postal system is temporary out of service? What, you don’t have to work because your company is forced to stop operations for the entire month? Wal-Mart and Toys R Us are about to go out of business because China shut down all the factories! 

It’s only the Olympics!

Style Guide: The Dos and Don’ts of Technical Writing

I haven’t seen this Beijing Olympics etiquette book, but as a technical writer, this book reminds me of the style guides that I have to follow every day at work. I get the same kind of feelings and reactions when I read some of the rules written in our company style guides.

At NI, we have several style guides. We have the NI Style Guide for all NI products. Then we have the LabVIEW Style Guide for LabVIEW-specific products. We also have a marketing style guide but I’ve never seen it before. We have several other style guides. Within these style guides contain an entire encyclopedia of rules about the dos and don’ts of technical writing at NI.

The first time I read the NI Style Guide was during my first month of training at NI. I read through the entire guide but much of it didn’t mean anything to me. After my first writing assignment, I read the style guide again. This time around, the guide made more sense but made writing more difficult.

What, please don’t use the word "please"? No passive voice can be used? I can’t use passive voice? What, I can’t cannot use contractions? It is not okay to start a sentence with "it is" or "this is" or "there are". This is ridiculous! The style guide is ridiculous! There are too many rules!  It is recommended  No. We recommend  (who’s "we"?) National Instruments recommend that you try not to be too stupid. GASP! (Don’t ever use the word stupid in documentation or write anything in parenthesis.) AGH! There are too many things I can’t do.

All these rules and what for? It’s only documentation that most people won’t read.

Rehearsing for a Backup Performance

Not to end on a negative note . . . I do look forward to watching the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. From what I hear, it’s going to be THE performance of the century. And you know something? The Chinese are preparing and rehearsing TWO different opening ceremony programs! One for a clear day and the other in case it rains. However the weather turns out tomorrow night, we’ll never get to watch the "other" performance. Most people won’t even realize there were two different performances to begin with!

Perhaps technical writers are like the people rehearsing for a backup performance. They are just as involved in the main performance (software, UI, usability, features) but just in case it rains, documentation is in place to cover the holes. The end goal after all, regardless of whether you’re part of the "main" or "backup" performance, is to make a seamless connection between what viewers/users want/need and what they actually see/receive.

(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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