Strategies in Business and Technical Writing: Part Deux

Jargon and Gobbledygook

The section states two principles of writing that are taught in most writing classes but are extremely important when writing technically: your writing must be clear and comfortable. Technical Writing in NASA (Challenger Disaster) comes to mind right away; much of the breakdown in the communication can be attributed to the use of jargon and this can seriously compromise the clear and concise nature of any writing. I am also reminded of the use of jargon in most academic writing as well. Almost all of my marketing books were filled with jargon and until you have a strong foundation in any discipline industry terms and theories are always difficult to understand. You must have a good understanding of who your audience is (reoccurring theme) and there seems to be a fine line between sounding like an expert and ensuring that your audience has a clear understanding of the material you are trying to present.

Writing in Your Job

Zinnser writes about this notion that managers believe that simple writing reflects a simple mind. This then causes their employees to write in complex, convoluted language. Zinnser goes on to state that clear, simple writing is more difficult to write than complex writing. I completely agree with this statement; anyone can write using a thesaurus and make their writing more complex, while it is difficult to navigate your thoughts and put them into simple, easy to understand writing.

How do you maintain a balance between what your manage may see as "good" writing and writing that clearly presents your message?
When starting a new job, should you be concerned with getting off on the right foot with your manager or peers?I think this is an important question as we go forward with our projects and more importantly when we move into our careers as professional communicators.

The Plain English Revolution

Siegel states that the "Plain English Revolution" is an attempt to make documents functional. This, to me, is a novel concept considering that the point of technical writing is to be used by the reader. Contracts immediately come to mind as documents littered with terms that the reader cannot fully understand and are really only function for the lawyer, business, government agency, etc. I am not claiming that they are written with the purpose of confusing the reader, but many times this is their function. I would advocate a push in "plain english" writing; the whole could definitely benefit from writing that is clear for all parties involved.