Creative technical writing

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Rachael Schumacher wondered whether there was a place for
 creativity in technical writing. Rachael, the answer is a
 qualified yes, but probably not the "yes" that you were
 looking for. There are two main types of creativity
 involved in technical writing: problem-solving creativity,
 and stylistic creativity. (I'll omit the simple--hah!--act
 of putting words on paper... that's certainly creative, but
 since we all agree on that, we needn't discuss that.)

 Problem solving is where we do most of our creative work:
 learning to understand something complex, and figuring out
 how to express it simply and concisely so that our readers
 don't have to do all that hard work. It can be a true
 challenge, particularly when you're stuck with documenting
 something that is--to be blunt--counterintuitive or too
 complex to explain simply. (Been there, trying to do that.)

 Stylistic creativity is permitted but not encouraged in
 technical writing. We assume that our audience reads to
 learn how to do something, or to solve a problem, not for
 entertainment; creative, elaborate writing styles generally
 impede comprehension. The "Windows for Dummies" (redundant,
 but a nice quote nonetheless! <grin, duck and run>) series
 of books may be creative writing, but that's stretching the
 information. A focus on reader goals, not our own need for
 self-expression, is what sets technical writing apart from
 all other forms of writing. Not even Shakespeare could make
 an assembly manual or software docs both entertaining and
 effective... though having said that, I anticipate numerous
 parodies from list members in response. ("To click, or to
 press? That is the question! Whether 'tis more active in
 the voice to...", "Above all else, to thy grounding strap
 be true... for thus it follows, as the night the day, that
 thou shalt not fry thy DIMM packages like eggs in the sun
 shouldst thou hap to carry a static charge.")

 Having said that, I have seen _one_ good example of a
 creative, entertaining manual: the instructions for
 software called "The Incredible Machine" (have I got the
 right name?). The software lets you build a series of Rube
 Goldberg problem-solving machines using a variety of "off
 the shelf" equipment... and the manual is written in the
 form of a mad scientist's lab notebook. So far as I know,
 it works just fine for the intended audience (I loved
 it)... so the moral of my story is that it pays to know
 your audience. In this case, they want both instruction
 _and_ entertainment, and thus a more creative approach
 works just fine.

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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