Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Writing about technology on the job breaks just about every rule taught in creative writing classes. That is because you are writing to inform, not entertain.

Sometimes I encourage others at work who are writing about technical topics. Their job is to inform. I encourage them not to entertain.

• Use the same words over and over again all the time.
• Tell the punch line at the start.
• Be logical, not emotional.
• And so on.

All these encouragements are counter to what is taught in creative writing classes. That is because technical documents are not mystery novels. We don’t drop little clues and hints here and there hidden in cleverly woven webs. We state things right up front in plain language.

We try to make it difficult for the reader to misunderstand. We try to avoid the great “Aha!” moment at the last word in the book.

Boring. Boring? Yes. That is the point. Clarity and brevity. Obvious. Not entertaining.