Writing for the Reader

This document serves as a guide for technical writers, emphasizing that the primary goal of technical writing is clear and effective communication with the reader, rather than self-expression or impressing with complex language. It argues that the entire burden of communication rests on the writer to ensure the reader understands the technical information.

The guide identifies six "major ills" that impede comprehension in technical writing:

1. Unorganized Paragraphs: Paragraphs often lack unity (sticking to a single topic sentence) and coherence (smooth flow of thought between sentences), leading to "haystack paragraphs" that are dense collections of facts without logical connections.
2. Abstract Style: Words are inherently abstract, and moving up the "ladder of abstraction" makes them more general and prone to misinterpretation. Abstract words, verb-nominalizations, and overly long terms hinder understanding, making writing inefficient and difficult to memorize. Concrete, specific words are preferred.
3. Sentence Complexity: This is not just about grammatical structure but the number of relationships a reader must process. High "required memory level" (many facts to recall before the main verb) and long sentences (ideally under 17-21 words) significantly increase difficulty.
4. Overuse of the Passive Voice: The passive voice is criticized for making writing weak, complex, wasteful, abstract, and prone to grammatical errors like dangling modifiers, often concealing the doer of an action. While it has its uses (e.g., when the doer is unknown or unimportant), technical writing often overuses it compared to literature.
5. Fast Pacing and Density: This refers to writing that packs too many technical details into few words, assuming a high level of reader background knowledge, which can baffle or frustrate. Density appears in "adjective strings," "stuffed paragraphs," "unexplained series," and "lumpy paragraphs."
6. Foggy Words: This includes "bad jargon" (specialized terms used with unfamiliar audiences or given vague, private meanings), "big words" (long, multi-syllable words used to impress rather than inform), and "deadwood" (empty or redundant words and phrases).

The document stresses the importance of understanding the reader's profile—their experience, education, motivation, intellectual level, and reading environment—as many readers struggle with comprehension and will abandon difficult material for easier alternatives (the "Principle of Least Effort"). It provides practical suggestions and examples from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) manuals to illustrate these faults and offer remedies, urging writers to simplify, organize, and be concrete to ensure their message is not just understood, but accurately retained.