re: level of writing

[Bill Hartzer <BHartzer -at- cha-systems -dot- com>]

Hi,

The most important phrase I got out of your explanation of this was:
"If this information is of an 
instructional nature, I would find it difficult..."

"I would find it difficult..." is VERY important here because this is NOT
what YOU would find difficult.  It is whether or not the USER or READER 
would find it difficult.

In my opinion, tech writing is all about being able to get the point across
to your 
reader. If your readers are highly technical people then you need to write
for that 
audience.  If your readers are eighth graders then you need to write for
them.
And if your readers are third graders then you need to write in even simpler
terms.

The art of being a fine technical writer is to be able to figure out who
your readers are
and write so THEY can understand!

Cordially,
Bill Hartzer
Technical Writer
CHA Systems, Inc.
2711 LBJ Freeway
Suite 172
Dallas, TX 75234
phone: 972-892-7566
email: bhartzer -at- cha-systems -dot- com


	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Patty Meglio [SMTP:pmeglio -at- lct -dot- com]
	Sent:	Thursday, February 10, 2000 10:12 AM
	To:	TECHWR-L
	Subject:	Level of writing

	I am curious about what other techwhirlers might do in this
situation.
	I had a conversation the other day about a person who is a SME in a
high 
	level technical environment, possibly scholastic, who writes papers,

	guides, and articles about highly technical information mostly for
very 
	technical people. The question came up as to what level of writing
this 
	information should follow. While taking into account the high level
of 
	technical expertise of the audience (I am not sure exactly what the 
	audience is, though I think it varies somewhat), I thought that most

	technical writing should be written in eighth grade English, with 
	appropriate technical jargon for easy and fast readability.

	She disagreed. She countered that if the audience thinks in highly 
	technical, highly scholastic or technical background, it should be
written 
	as such, even if the text is long and wordy. If this information is
of an 
	instructional nature, I would find it difficult to read large
amounts of 
	text that was written in a level as high as college level and I
think most 
	people would, especially if they needed the information quickly.

	I know I'm being a bit nebulous about the information presented, but
I 
	could not get more information than this from my friend. Does anyone
know 
	of any rules governing the level of writing for a technical
audience? What 
	would you do in this situation?


	Patty Meglio
	Technical Communications Specialist
	FUGRO-LCT INC.
	pmeglio -at- lct -dot- com