Welcome to the first post from our newest regular guest blogger, Karen Field Carroll. Karen sent us a post last month on how technical communicators can (and should) support the Plain Regulations Act, and we asked her if she wanted to blog regularly on the topic of plain language. She'll be posting once a month under the general title of “Plainly Speaking.” Welcome, Karen!
When I began my career in technical communication almost two decades ago, I fell in love with the simple, clean style of the well-written user’s guide. But I didn’t know the name of the style until recently: It’s called plain language.
Plain-language style is everything good technical communication should be: direct, clear, well organized, and free of hidden agendas, jargon, or tech-ese. In sum, plain language puts the user’s needs first.
But here’s the thing: I’ve read a lot of user documentation in my career, including the guides that come with the products I use at home, and I’ve realized something: plain language and technical communication aren’t spending much time together.
Further proof: On a plain-language forum recently, someone wrote, “technical communicators are plain-language practitioners.” And then someone else wrote,
“I have been working with some technical communicators, for the first time ever. I agree that they should be [plain-language practitioners], that they think they are, that they try.
But I am finding that there is a lack of understanding of grammar, style issues, capitalization rules, and so on. [Now] I would not rely on a technical communicator without a copy editor.”
Ouch.
And I, a technical communicator myself, could not disagree.
The question is, why? Why is so much documentation polluted with sales pitches, technical jargon, bad grammar, and illogical structure? Why have so many technical communicators abandoned their users on the page?
The answer: Most of us haven’t met plain language. We get caught up in tools and technology, and we forget about the text itself. And yet, whether we write user guides, tutorials, wikis, online help, training videos, or any other type of documentation, the text—where plain language resides—is the foundation of the work.
In technical communication, we need education about plain language. We need the motivation to study it and we need to recognize the rewards for using it. In this monthly column, I want to provide all of that. As I do, you’ll see that writing in plain-language style begins even before you put your fingertips to the keyboard.
The first step? Introductions: Plain language, meet technical communication. Technical communication, this is plain language.
See you next month.
Karen Field Carroll is a senior technical writer, author, and plain language advocate. She and her husband live in Arizona with their German shepherd, Gunther, and their cat, Callie. Visit her blog at http://www.write2help.com.
Plain language is only part of the picture, because before you write the sentences, you have to analyze and organize the content for usability. That’s where minimalism can play a key role in deciding what content will be covered, what content will be excluded, and how the content will be ordered so the user can best find what he or she needs to know. That’s when the plain language steps in: you (hopefully) use plain language in your sentences!
I agree, but it’s important to remember that the work we do before we set fingers to keyboard is what helps us write plainly. The more we analyze the audience, learn about the product or subject, and order the content, the more easily we can write plain text. I’ll be exploring the pre-writing process more in future posts. Thanks for your comment.
I took part in that online discussion that you refer to, Karen. I think the commentator was thinking of copy-editing skills more so than plain language. Welcome to plain language, technical communicators, but also meet grammar and punctuation.
Yes, I remember that. I think it speaks to the point that PL in technical communication can’t be isolated to any one aspect of good writing. It’s not just word choice; it’s not just grammar and punctuation; it’s not just content organization. It’s all of these and other, more intangible things. I hope to reveal that in future posts. Thanks for your comment!