Fat Free Writing - Part Three

» SandraLinville - Great article series

Thanks for the reminder - I think even "non-technical" writers need this reminder. I know I do. I remember when I was writing annual reports which included explanations of the company's technology to the readers. A very experienced co-worker in the corporate communications department said "to make the engineers or scientists explain the technology as if you are a five-year-old." It was some of the best advice I was ever given. It gave me permission not to appear as if I knew what they were talking about, in fact, it was better that I didn't because it forced them to explain it in simpler terms. I noticed as I was with the company longer and began to understand more that I sometimes slipped into a buzzword bingo player's dream. I had to work hard to remember the audience and skip the shorthand - I had to really explain the technology. Although, I don't always succeed; I certainly fall short of my ideal writing most of the time, I keep trying. Technical writing is even tougher.

-- posted by SandraLinville

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» VMTWriter - You're so right

It truly is hard to keep the audience in mind when you've become so used to the product that you begin to slip into the same euphoria that programmers and others are in when it comes to how "easy" the product is to use.

That's one of the reasons I like consulting so much is that I'm always learning new products. I am the "new user" every time. So, I keep my writing at the appropriate level. However, it isn't always that simple. :-) Sometimes, discerning who the "real" user is isn't always that easy.

I think technical writing is the easiest form of writing because the manual is already written. It's just in a number of different heads. My job is to pull out the important information and put it in a medium that I think the user will find useful.

Piece of cake! :-) <---- slightly facetious, all in fun!

-- posted by VMTWriter

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