On Writing Better: Tips from a South by Southwest Panel
In "Writing, Better," a presentation at the South by Southwest conference in Austin last month, the presenters offer some good tips for writing:
- Greg Storey says to focus on the structure of your story most of all.
- Browyn Jones, says to try writing drafts in unsent e-mails as a way to feel more comfortable writing and also to write conversationally.
- Erin Kissane, an editor for A List Apart, says most writers' manuscripts aren't rejected because of grammar or punctuation errors. Their submissions are rejected for three reasons: the content doesn't fit the audience of the publication, the structure/logic is poor, or the message is unclear.
Erin's advice resonated strongest for me. I think as writers we sometimes focus too much on details of style, without first ensuring how the structure and logic of our content fits with our audience. Getting the commas right is important, but on a hierarchy of priorities for readers, it may rank near the bottom. Clarity and accuracy are critical, especially for technical subjects. Without clarity, even a grammatically beautiful sentence becomes worthless.
About Tom Johnson
I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.
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