Anyone Can Write?

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 | Writing Theory & Practice

When you think of eternal battles, you think good and evil—the battle between Jedi and Sith, sheriff and outlaw, knight and dragon. Technical communicators fight no such battles; we usually contend against certain prevailing attitudes. While we may not call these attitudes evil, they may be shortsighted, misinformed, or downright wrong. Not to mention eternal.

One of these is the argument that “anyone can write.” I don’t exactly disagree.

Possibly the loosest definition of writing is putting words on paper or on a screen. And many, many people can certainly do that.

However, technical communication requires more than just putting words in a document, more than composing text. Technical communication isn’t just writing.

Can just anyone write with the audience constantly in mind? Can just anyone interview and research effectively, and then correctly sort out the information that needs to be relayed to the audience? Can just anyone edit with an eye for detail and a mind for following a consistent style? Can just anyone organize content for the most effective presentation?

“Anyone can write” is a mentality that leads project managers to assign developers, testers, or themselves to produce documentation. The effect of allowing “anyone” to write can be similar to letting a non-pianist play the piano at a fancy restaurant. That person can touch the keys and may be able to do a fair job at making some pleasant sounds, but overall, the experience won’t be nearly as pleasant as if a professional pianist does the job. And the chances are significant that the whole experience just may be ruined. Saying that anyone can write is essentially the same as saying that anyone can play the piano, while the truth is actually that anyone can plunk at the piano keys.

A hallmark of a professional technical communicator is the ability to think like the product users. Project managers are typically focused on concepts like budget burn rate. Engineering teams are focused on whether the product does what it was designed to do. Because the technical communicator is bridging the gap between the development team and the users, they tend to think more like the users. This enables them to address specific users’ needs in the documentation, not just write about how the product works. Technical communicators are trained to communicate clearly and have a knack to back it up. Not just anyone can say that.

I could go on for quite a while about how technical communication involves so much more than just writing. That’s why there’s an entire profession. That’s why the Society for Technical Communication has 21 special interest groups, each focused on a specific area of tech comm and its related skills and challenges.

I hope that if someone tells you that anyone can write or you find yourself thinking it, you’ll think of that restaurant and the piano player. Or come up with your own analogy. The bottom line is that there’s a difference between pressing the piano keys and tickling the ivories—anyone can do the first, but it takes a professional to do the second.

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5 Comments to 'Anyone Can Write?'

Scott
August 12, 2009

Reminds me of some advice I got when I was younger: “Any fool can fight, but very few can box.” As you said, a lot of people have the mechanical skills. It’s the technique that’s lacking.

Patty Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 8:13 am

I have a similar saying…. “Anybody with a driver’s license can get from A to B, but how many can win the Daytona 500?”

Craig
August 12, 2009

I hear you. Way back in the 1970s, I told my dad I wanted to be a writer. He grabbed a pen and pad, and wrote a grocery list. “See, I’m a writer. I just wrote a list. No one is going to pay you to do this. Anyone can write.” My late dad was practical and tried to steer me toward realistic goals. To him, writing was lofty, and far above my standing in life. Now I work as a technical writer. Pity he never lived to see me break into the profession/trade of techincal writing. By the way, did we ever settle the question of tech writing being a profession or trade?

Ben
August 12, 2009

I announced to my parents one night when I was in junior high school that I wanted to be a writer instead of an animator. My dad later told me he had been disappointed, and I think that’s because writing is a much less visible profession than artwork is, and art runs in my family. (He’s cool with it now; that’s just how he felt at the time.) I think part of the myth that anyone can write comes from the fact that it seems just about anyone can get a book published these days.

Craig Reply:
August 13th, 2009 at 2:31 am

True enough. Anyone can self-publish a book today. Doesn’t mean anyone will read it, let alone pay for the privilege of doing so.

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