"Andrei Alexandrescu" <seewebsiteforem...@erdani.org> wrote in message news:hajod7$fm...@digitalmars.com... > I'd decided to not use the first person at all in TDPL, but now I find > myself a bit constrained by that decision. I personally think a small > amount of meta-references and asides prevents boredom and brings a more > personal note to the communication, but such devices should be used very > sparingly and with care. > > So I thought I'd ask a candid question in here. How do you feel about > moderate use of the first person in a technical book? Do you find it > comfortable, neutral, or cringeworthy? >
I don't write as much as I should, but I've always found the strict "no first-person" rule to be highly arbitrary. Worse, as a reader, I find that it often results in a quite awkward (and even pretentious) style. And FWIW, I find the "always use plural first-person instead of singular first-person" style to be even worse because it leads to statements that are just plain factually incorrect or misleading.
