How to write in Plain English

A guide titled "How to write in plain English" was introduced to me in a technical writing class a couple years ago. I highly recommend you save a copy for your own personal reference. Here is a quick summary drawn directly from the guide:

• Stop and think before you start writing. Make a note of the points you want to make in a logical order
• Prefer short words. Long words will not impress your customers or help your writing style.
• Use everyday English whenever possible. Avoid jargon and legalistic words, and explain any technical terms you have to use.
• Keep your sentence length down to an average of 15 to 20 words. Try to stick to one main idea in a sentence.
• Use active verbs as much as possible. Say 'we will do it' rather than 'it will be done by us'.
• Be concise.
• Imagine you are talking to your reader. Write sincerely, personally, in a style that is suitable and with the right tone of voice.

Stick by these general principals and you're well on your way to writing good ol' Plain Jane English!

Plain Jane English

Concise writing in what I call 'Plain Jane English' has always been something that's been neglected by noobie technical communicators. I admit that I'm no less guilty and am continuously honing my Plain Jane English skills at work. When you enter the technical communication world with your bachelor of arts or science, gone are the days of your feeble attempts to emulate the work of your admired professors - long winded and pretentious research papers, where big words and complex sentences reign supreme. If you come from a creative writing background, say goodbye to smilies, metaphors, and 'foreshadowing'.

It's the harsh truth - your readers aren't going to snuggle up in bed with a cup of warm cocoa and the latest copy of your fax owner's manual (*boohoo*). They are, however, going to be using it to learn how to do something very specific - like say, to change their printer's ink cartridge. Assuming your general readership consists of the lay variety, the more Plain Jane English you use, the easier and more pleasant their experience. In sum, Plain Jane English is:

• Straightforward and easy to understand.
• The dominant writing style in technical communication.
• Consists of non-technical words (whenever possible) and simple compound sentences.
• Used for the sake of clarity and accuracy of information.

There are many benefits in using Plain Jane English and believe me, the transition from writing complexly to simply can be difficult. Luckily, at this year's DocTrain West conference, those who seek to tighten their writing and better understand what Plain Jane English can do for them can treat themselves to a pre-Conference workshop hosted by Berry Braster. The workshop, called Simplified Technical English: How Standardization of Content Will Reduce Costs and Facilitate Quality Assurance, will take place on May 6, between 1-5pm at the Vancouver Marriot Pinnacle. Barry will also touch upon the topic of documentation standardization, and how simplified English lowers localization and reusability costs.

So You're Thinking of a Career in Technical Communication Part II

The certificate program was fairly intense - I was attending at least two evening classes per week, on top of my early morning shifts of full time work. My part-time studies went on for about two years. My overall impression of the academic component of the program? I felt it did a pretty good job doing what it was designed to do - to prepare its graduates with applicable knowledge and job-specific skills to work in technical communication. And if I hadn't studied in the program, my current employer wouldn't likely have taken a chance with me. To get your feet wet, I highly encourage you to try at least one or two core courses at any reputable post-secondary institution that offers a technical communication program. And an extra thumbs up for programs that offer a co-op or industry project component to provide its students real-world work experiences. Believe me, you'll need every edge you can get to break into this field.

So we go back to the question of "Why?". Why would you ever want to commit yourself to a purpose of writing manuals that everyone seems to avoid reading? And no, you're not going to win a Pulitzer with that fax machine manual you just proudly submitted to your boss! Technical writing (i.e. communication), unlike other types of writing, serves a very strict purpose - and that's to instruct a reader how to perform a specific task, or a series of tasks to get a job done. If we go back to the fax machine example, the task could be as simple as sending a fax - or as complex as configuring business intelligence software for a client. And because tasks are never one and the same, there is definitely creativity involved when determining how information is presented and written for the reader. Without going into too much detail, I'd like to list three important important tech-comm attributes that I feel are key to the success and happiness of a technical communicator. Please keep in mind this is drawn from my experiences working as a noobie technical writer at a B.C software company for the past year.

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You do not have an aversion to technology and enjoy teasing things out

If you ever loathe the idea of having to go into your Windows Control Panel, or get a splitting headache with an inexplicable urge to drink heavily from learning how your new iPod works - you may want to avoid the technical communication field. Even if you don't know what the difference between a URL or link is - or what a Crystal report does - don't worry - they're all terminology and concepts you can learn fairly quickly. Your intrinsic desire and curiosity will be key.

You've actually used a technical manual, online help, or training video on a regular basis

Never trust a skinny chef. Success won't happen if you don't believe in what you're doing - and technical communication takes no exception here. And yes, you are a non-believer if you'd rather have someone teach you how show you rather than googling instructions for yourself. Non-believers and hacks produce crappy work - and crappy manuals produce frustrated customers.

You enjoy meeting and communicating all sorts of people at the office

I was told by an instructor that the writing and editing component of technical communication is only 50% - the other 50% goes to information gathering. And often times, this information stays in the head of your colleagues at the office. These people are commonly known as subject matter experts (SME) and your access to their knowledge will be a strong determining factor in the success or failure of your projects. So it'd be a good idea to get to know them (on a face-to-face basis if possible) and establish relationships early in the game. Interviewing and talking to your colleagues should come natural to you and should never feel like interrogation.
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If you're still curious about this field of work, there is perhaps no better way to research this further than to chat and mingle with technical communication professionals at this year's Documentation & Training West conference in Vancouver. Web 2.0 and its impact on communication will be the conference's theme this year. And yes, if you haven't figured it out by now, one of the goals of this blog is to get word out to anyone who is in the field and especially to those who are interested in learning more about the craft.

If you've been googling about technical communication, you've probably come across blog content from Darren Barefoot, a local Vancouver communication professional. His writing career history is quite fascinating and goes to show you that technical communicators aren't always confined to writing manuals. You can read more about him at his personal blog site by clicking here. Darren will be making an appearance at the conference with a 60 minute presentation titled Social Media 101: Everyone's a Technical Writer. He'll also be hosting a workshop that teaches the latest Web 2.0 tools.

So You're Thinking of a Career in Technical Communication Part I

When I first chose to pursue part-time studies in technical communication, while presuming I would be able to make some sort of career out of it, I thought carefully about how I got to that point in making such a critical decision that would potentially determine the 'happiness curve' for the rest of my adult life.

First, a bit about me. About 5 years ago, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree - majoring and minoring in social science subjects that I had a genuine interest in, but had no intent to pursue a career in. I've thought about going into teaching since I loved the idea of standing in front of a group of students, and doing my darndest to inspire and enlighten the knowledge-deprived. To get acceptance into the Faculty of Education, I needed to put in my volunteer hours at the local public school. Unfortunately, volunteer doesn't pay very much, so I had to get a proper job. Months later, I found myself working at a 24-hour call center for the largest dot-com in e-commerce.

It was my first taste of hi-tech, e-commerce, call center work culture, ridiculously high performance demands, and the 'diplomacy and politics' behind customer service. For the most part, I enjoyed my time and learned a lot there; however, after one and a half years of abandoning my initial plans of becoming a teacher without any regret, three things became clear to me: 1) I enjoyed interacting with customers, and showing them how to perform the tasks they needed to succeed 2) I needed to recognize my other passions and somehow integrate them with number one 3) To open up career opportunities, I needed more qualifications (translation: more schooling).

In the Spring of 2005, I took evening courses in management accounting and human resources at BCIT, a local polytechnic college, exploring what the business world had to offer me. Seriously now, isn't that the usual route that most lost souls take? Anyhow, in spite of learning wonderful things like balancing ledger accounts, and that poor interpersonal communication is the root of all office squabbling (therefore causing a detrimental drop in worker productivity), I came to realize that I was pretty decent at writing reports and analytical material. And I was probably the only one who liked writing them in my project group. In fact, since writing my last and final research paper with teary eyes shortly before graduation, I missed writing a lot. This would be my passion, and I wanted to make a career of it. And so, in the Fall of 2005, I took a deep breath, switched gears, and enrolled in the first two core courses of the Technical Writing program at BCIT. I picked my path, and there was no turning back.