Writing for the reader
That sounds like something elementary, but I’m always surprised at the number of writers (or people who call themselves writers) who seem to forget this. I was reminded of how bad this situation can be when reading this blog post.
No matter how interested in or excited about a subject you’re tackling, you have to remember that you’re not writing for yourself. You’re writing for someone else. That person may not have your store of knowledge on a subject. They’re looking to you to introduce them to a topic and explain it, or shed some new light on it.
Whenever I talk about technical writing, I often mention what I call the five Cs:
- Clear
- Concise
- Consistent
- Complete
- Correct
The five Cs also apply to any other kind of writing, too. You really can’t do a good job without covering all of those items in the list. Of course, making your work interesting doesn’t hurt either.
Take care of the five Cs, and your readers and editors will love you for it. That sounds simple, but it’s not. If, however, you keep the five Cs and your readers in mind while researching and writing then you’ll be ahead of any number of people in this business.
Photo from http://www.sxc.hu
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I agree but I’m not surprised that, with the myriad of other areas of work a technical writer invariably ends up involved, that the basics are skimped.
It’s always good to be reminded of the basics though, I agree.