Three Kinds of Prescripts

In discussing the influence of templates, I will suggest the term prescripts for that which is already written before you begin, that is, the parts of the work that are pre-written in the template.

I will argue that it is meaningful to discern between (at least) three kinds of prescripts that influence the creation process in three different ways:

  • Interface prescripts reduce the means of expression available to the user.
  • Design prescripts add semiotic modes to the ones the user creates in.
  • Genre prescripts lock the creation to a certain genre.

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