Writing to some is a burden and just something to get that grade at the end of the day. Some enjoy it and see it as a relaxing and stress-relieving hobby. For some, writing is a job and that they both love and hate at the same time. The thing that pulls us together is that we all have to write.
Writing is a form of expression and allows us to actually see what we are communicating before we communicate, and I think if it weren’t for all the rules and formats, we might not dislike writing as much. The difficulty with writing and having to follow specific formats is that it forces us to write, so that is not how we generally think, so it is hard. The value of writing in a specific format or within the rules is that it makes it easier for the reader to understand what we are saying, and specifically, in technical areas, that is key.
So although I would love just to write in the way, I speak that is not the most efficient form of communicating specific topics, thus making “technical writing.” The different forms of writing are to communicate in different settings for some that are telling an elaborate story that invokes emotion and gets people sometimes invested it is to convey a deep sense of empathy or sadness, or sometimes it is how many times a program has to run a certain piece of code. I think of it as using the right tool for the job.
I love writing, and I forget to switch from my normal communication brain to a more technical way of writing, although I know-how thanks to the technical writing class. Technical writing is giving those annoying details that nobody but you really care about or somebody who is in your field will care about, and doing in the most concise and straightforward way possible. The challenge is that I don’t often write in this form, but like anything else, you have to learn by practicing. The fun thing about technical writing is you can utilize the obscure words that most people won’t know and use your most intelligent way of writing. I like to think of Technical writing as writing with a different vocabulary more than as a different form, but that is what works for me—the most important thing to remember when writing is that you are communicating. You should choose the most efficient way to communicate your ideas to your audience, and sometimes that is using a more technical way of writing than what you are used to using.
“Either writing something worth reading or do something worth writing about.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard, An Almanack For the Year of Christ 1738, Being the Second after LEAP YEAR.
