Technical vs. other writing

Subject: Technical vs. other writing
From: "Geoff Hart (by way of \"Eric J. Ray\" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>)" <ght -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 08:28:44 -0600

Sella Rush wondered <<does anyone find that technical writing makes
his/her other writing better? worse? more difficult?>>

The problem with my technical writing background is that it
emphasizes brevity and simplicity to the point that I consciously
have to switch gears to do other forms of writing. For example, I
have to resist the urge to eliminate metaphor and complexity from my
fiction, I have to force myself to slow down and let the characters
evolve at their own pace, and I have to override the reflex "one word
for all instances of the same thought" to permit the "elegant
variation" (i.e., judicious use of synonyms) that makes creative
writing creative. But the core disciplines I've learned through
technical writing (consistency, clarity, logic, strong structure) are
very valuable in fiction and other writing. Of course, that's cause
I'm a traditional writer; I imagine all these disciplines are
liabilities to a modern "literary" writer.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"By God, for a moment there it all made sense!"--Anon.

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