Re: proposal 3: checkpoint 3.3

On Tuesday, August 12, 2003, at 10:45  AM, Gregg Vanderheiden wrote:
>   When you say you don’t want it in the normative section....
> Did you mean that you don’t want it even as an option? (e.g. it is 
> optional
> to the author?)

Specifically, I meant not as success criteria for Core or Extended, but 
as best practice, if at all.

Even there, I have my concerns. I can't say that I believe x words per 
sentence or x sentences per paragraph is a "best practice". When I use 
the term "style guide" (as I've mentioned in telecons here and there), 
I see it as a separate module. Perhaps a checkpoint or success 
criterion that reads "Adopt a style guide" is a possibility. But I 
don't want to say that we have a better way, and use extended 
conformance as a lever to force it, when there are already more 
thoughtful and comprehensive guides for authors to use (for English, 
the Chicago Manual of Style, AP Stylebook, The Times Guide to English 
Style and Usage, and Wired Style, just to name a few).

-
m

Received on Tuesday, 12 August 2003 17:57:02 UTC