T e c h n i c a l Writer's Complaint [ Bruce Madole Canadian Imperial Toronto, Canada As a t e c h n i c a l w r i t e r in a large computer systems d e p a r t m e n t , I am c o n s t a n t l y faced w i t h the t a s k of r e a d i n g o t h e r p e o p l e ' s writing. In a d d i t i o n to draft p r o c e d u r e s , there is u s u a l l y parade of t e c h n i c a l articles and p u b l i c a t i o n c r o s s i n g m y d e s k and d e m a n d i n g my attention. I have been alternately irked and amused, lately, by some of the w r i t i n g I have seen and s o m e of it w r i t t e n by p r o f e s s i o n a l writers! For shame! Pomposity, jargon and g e n e r a l c a r e l e s s n e s s were evident at every hand. - Bank of C o m m e r c e The following objections: points will illustrate my i. P e o p l e do n o t " i n t e r f a c e " unless they are kissing [passionately]. 2. T h e a d d i n g of a C a p i t a l L e t t e r to a n y W o r d will not make it i n t r i n s i c a l l y more Meaningful. 3. "Using" ' e x c e s s i v e " 'quotes" 'in order to" 'impart" ' s p e c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e " to y o u 'words' b e c o m e s 'wearisome' quite 'quickly", and only succeeds in convincing your reader that you are unable to e x p r e s s yourself in p l a i n language. 4. T h e passive voice of a verb is c o n s i d e r e d ideal, if one w i s h e s to h a v e conveyed on his behalf a relative distaste for the process of communication. 5. The use of "usage" is best left to those who can use "usage" as usage demands. 6. " W r i t i n g w i s e , it is c o n s i d e r e d d e s i r a b l e to f a c i l i t a t e reader comprehension t h r o u g h the use of/and a p p r o p r i a t i o n of clear and lucid prose-writing techniques. S u c h c a r e and a t t e n t i o n , scrupulously focused, will inevitably r e s u l t in the c o m p l e t e e l i m i n a t i o n of hyperbole, the c r e a t i o n of s h o r t , l u c i d sentences, and a clarity of t h o u g h t which will transcend the m u d d i n e s s of common prose. O n e can h a r d l y fail to see what is l a c k i n g in t h e p r o s e of c o m m o n men and w o m e n . T h e i r one guiding principleif t h e i r l a n g u a g e m a y be said to operate on p r i n c i p l e s instead of on instinct and elegance - is to d i s t r a c t the reader with c i r c u m l o c u t i o n and spurious phrases from that which the writer was striving to almost communicate. T h e r e is s a f e t y in f o g . " I w o u l d n o t be m a k i n g such obvious points to my f e l l o w p r o f e s s i o n a l s , if it did not a p p e a r t h a t we are t a k i n g o u r s e l v e s too seriously, a n d in t h e w r o n g way. Our professionalism rests on our a b i l i t y to make sense of c o n f u s i n g and technical s u b j e c t s , our a b i l i t y to o r g a n i z e facts, and on the quality and clarity of o u r writing. Nobody should have to t r a n s l a t e good technical writing into simple u n d e r s t a n d a b l e language. If you have to e x p l a i n w h a t it means, it's not good technical writing. Information Retrieval The S p e c i a l I n t e r e s t G r o u p for I n f o r m a t i o n R e t r i e v a l (SIGIR) has asked us if we are i n t e r e s t e d in p a r t i c i p a t i n g in their INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE on INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 1985 ~ The c o n f e r e n c e w i l l be h e l d in M a y or June of 1985, in M o n t r e a l , Canada. A n y o n e i n t e r e s t e d in h e l p i n g to o r g a n i z e p o r t i o n s of a t e c h n i c a l p r o g r a m m e for a joint c o n f e r e n c e or for c o - o p e r a t i v e p o r t i o n s of a c o n f e r e n c e d e a l i n g w i t h d o c u m e n t a t i o n and the r e t r i e v a l of same, p l e a s e contact: Diana Patterson 213 A l b a n y A v e n u e Toronto, C A N A D A M 5 R 3C7 * This conference is subject to approval by the A M Conferences C & Symposia Committee

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