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.