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To say that tech writers should be taught poetry is like saying that mechanics should learn ballet.
Both disciplines involve words, but that's all they have in common.
-----Original Message-----
From: Porrello, Leonard [mailto:lporrello -at- illumina -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 2:24 PM
To: Lynne Wright; Combs, Richard; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: techwriting style vs press release
Perhaps your (and Richard's) understanding of poetry is too narrow. There are many schools of thought regarding the purpose of poetry. For example, some say that the point of poetry is to express oneself; others; to reveal truth and beauty. Of course, it can do either or both and many other things as well. All agree that poetry requires extreme concision and precision. These two qualities are also essential for excellent technical writing. Poetry, like good technical writing, also needs to engage readers while leading them to the conclusion that the author intends. Like the best poetry, good technical writing needs to be inexorably truthful. So, just as we can say that good poetry must be concise, precise, engaging, controlling, and truthful, we can say the same for excellent technical writing.
By the way, I agree with your assertion that bad "poetry" (if you can call it poetry) is as ubiquitous as bad tech writing. But again, this is just one additional reason to teach poetry.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lynne Wright [mailto:Lynne -dot- Wright -at- tiburoninc -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 11:08 AM
To: Combs, Richard; Porrello, Leonard; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: [SPAM] RE: techwriting style vs press release
Importance: Low
Anybody who's gone to open mic night at the spoken word café or thumbed through a lesser literary mag will know that there is AT LEAST as much tremendously awful poetry as there is bad tech writing.
Yes, being able to apply some creative problem-solving skills will improve your output, but knowing how to craft oblique metaphors and pretty wordscapes? Can't see that being useful in a medium where the key is to communicate simply and directly.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=tiburoninc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=tiburoninc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Combs, Richard
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 1:56 PM
To: Porrello, Leonard; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: techwriting style vs press release
Porrello, Leonard wrote:
> And once again American anti-intellectualism rears its ugly head. The
> poet is one who has mastered the most difficult aspects of language.
> Going back to Plato, most if not all of the greatest prose writers in
> the western intellectual tradition were also poets.
>
> Why would anyone want to keep students away, for any amount of time,
> from the best examples of great writing that our culture has to offer?
> If everyone who wanted to write were trained by a poet, the airwaves
> and internet wouldn't be so full of nonsense. Technical documents
> wouldn't be so poorly written. The problem with commercial writing
> isn't that writers can't master story telling or economy or who, what,
> where, when, why, and how. It is that they have no poetic sense.
I've encountered quite a bit of bad technical documentation over the years. In no case have I ever thought that the problem was lack of poetic sense, imagery, emotions, or self-expression. :-)
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-903-6372
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