CLEAR WAITING IMPROVING YOUR EFFECTIVENESS BETWEEN COVERS by Therese Gain, Toronto, Firmware Ontario Inc., However, there is one principle I feel is more important than the others. That is, "writing like you talk." For one thing, using a conversational style helps correct other problems you may have because most people are better talkers than writers. After all, we've had more experience talking. We l e a r n e d to talk w h e n we w e r e a b o u t two, and if you're anything like me, it's difficult to shut you up. There is at least one danger though; most of us are careless w h e n we t a l k . A n d we c a n ' t be careless when we w r i t e . We c a n ' t ~use slang or colloguialisms. Documentation must be more precise than conversation. Writing conversationally can be difficult too. I find it hard to talk like I write. Ooops. I mean write like I talk. It's a challenging task. Perhaps because writing conversationally forces you to be yourself. And that means revealing something of the person inside you --not always a comfortable task. Also, writing like you talk can be difficult because it's ingrained in us that important information is written in a dull, sombre style. I think we've all been exposed to textbooks in school that were as good a cure for insomnia as sleeping pills. Regardless sationally best ways and plain human. picture. experience. of how difficult writing convercan be, I think it is one of the to make your writing clear, simple understandable. It also makes it Phew! We've just This one was a lot users will find it wa5 to write. finished another manual. of fun. I wonder if the as enjoyable to read as it I love writing manuals. But, I still don't like reading them (unless they're ones I've had a hand in, of course). As I w o n d e r w h y I feel this w a y , I am c o m f o r t e d to believe that I'm not alone. I think there are two reasons people don't enjoy reading manuals: usually, they are difficult to understand, and many lack a human touch. There are, however, w a y s we c a n overcome these problems. Most often, the aim of documentation is to instruct. We've got one chance to tell our readers what they n e e d t o k n o w , s o we h a v e t o get it right the first time. The best way to ensure that readers get our message is to follow Robert Gunning's ten principles of clear technical writing. 1. 2. 3. Keep Prefer Prefer Avoid Put sentences the the short. to the word. words. verbs. can complex. simple familiar 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. I0. unnecessary action in your your Use terms Tie Make Write Write reader in w i t h y o u r full to like use of reader's variety. not I've heard that most people prefer to be shown what to do rather than read about it. To me t h a t ' s because manuals often appear dull; dehumanized, lacking the humour and courtesy of a conversation. A human touch is very important. It adds dimension to our work. It makes it enjoyable, as well as readable. After all, what p o i n t is t h e r e in w r i t i n g if n o t to be r e a d , or in r e a d i n g , if n o t to u n d e r s t a n d . . . express, you talk. impress. All ten of the "fight follow. To systematic. ciples we understand. these principles are important in against fog" and many are easy to a certain degree, good writing is S o , i f we c a n f o l l o w these princan make our manuals easier to ll

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