Managing Document Versions for Multiple Tenses
I need to create two versions of a document, one in future tense and one in past tense:
Document A: The consultant will do X.
Document B: The consultant did X.
In the past, I've handled this by writing document A, then editing a copy into document B. This creates problems when making major changes; I can try to modify both documents simultaneously, or I can just edit document A and recreate B.
Neither of those approaches seem very efficient. Are there any well-established processes or patterns to handle this challenge? Is there a term to describe this scenario? Just knowing the right terminology would help me in researching this.
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With some tools, you can tag the two verb forms as conditional text in the source document and then render the version you want in the output.
If you're writing a status report, I recommend using verb forms that let you sidestep revising/conditionalizing text, as shown here.
Example A
Consultant writes blog post. Completed.
Client publishes blog post. In progress.
Example B
Consultant: Write blog post. Completed.
Client: Publish blog post. In progress.
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