Book Review: UnTechnical Writing: How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So Anyone Can Understand, by Michael Bremer

chillibreeze writer — Dr. Roopa Nishi Viswanathan

“This isn’t Scrabble- you don’t get more points for long words. You aren’t paid by the syllable. Your job isn’t to test or challenge your reader or impress the reader with your vast vocabulary. It’s to get the important information from the page or screen into the reader’s brain as quickly, easily and enjoyable as possible…………” are some words of wisdom from Michael Bremer, the author of Untechnical Writing - How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So Anyone Can Understand (Untechnical Press Books for Writers Series)

Bremer has coined the term UnTechnical writing "to refer to the writing about technology that is intended to be comfortably read and understood by the non-technical consumer audience." It’s a known fact that "The average citizen is becoming more and more dependent on technology." He stresses on this. And he addresses how to write for that audience in UnTechnical Writing.

Bremer’s book presents a crisp and practical discussion of layout and graphics followed by a detailed section on interface design. The former director of creative services at Maxis, the makers of SimCity, Bremer may be one of the best people to write about UnTechnical Writing, considering how he makes his book very “untechnical” as well as interesting. You just can’t get bored while you are reading it.

"Make it work the way people expect it to work." His philosophy is matter-of-fact and effectual. There is a section on philosophy too, in UnTechnical Writing, which is as captivating as the other chapters. At the end of the book there is a section titled "Exhibits," which contains sample forms, checklists, and worksheets, a set of appendices that identify resources and recommended reading material. Overall, this book will prove a definite help for those wishing to brush up their technical (oops! I meant UnTechnical) writing skills.

Some readers may find the book superficial and better suited for novices in the field of UnTechnical Writing (That may be true, but you cannot write for everyone. Or can you? That’s what technical writers are supposed to do, right?).

Also some others may complain that Bremer does not help them develop any new skill, but assumes that they are already good writers (Name three books that helped you develop totally new skills).

There is not much information about planning, structuring, revising, condensing (or expanding) technical writing more effectively (Again, this is not a book that teaches one to write. I would say it rather tells you how not to write).

The quotations that appear every now and then (that I enjoyed) may seem like a barrier to reading to some (A writer has to rely on other writers sometimes, especially when writing a book on seemingly dry subjects).

Now if you are tired of my defenses of the author’s ideas, lets look at a quick book summary.

Book Summary:

Introduction:

“I love being a writer. What I can’ stand is the paperwork.” – Peter De Vries

The author calls this section a “well-behaved” one that obviously introduces the subject, explains the purpose and structure of the book and leads you on. He talks about the book, what it will and won’t do for its readers. He ends with a warning that though this book may be liberating, it may cause problems if implemented all of a sudden in a company used to different ideals.

The UnTechnical Writer:

“Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there.” – Thomas Berger

This section is about the person who does the actual writing, the skills required and how to get them. It talks about the writers’ rights and duties, their “skills and thrills” and how to improve them.

The Nontechnical Reader:

“You know, …everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” – Will Rogers

This section is about the target audience and ways for the writers to identify, identify with and think about their readers. An analysis of reading habits is presented with tips to deal with each type of reader.

UnTechnical Writing:

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.” – Ernest Hemingway

This chapter covers the actual writing with respect to a writer in the high-tech world. It lays out the basics of writing, goes through the actual process, talks a lot about how humor always works, teaches techniques and tricks, and even has a section about the working life of a technical writer.

Editing:

“Editor: a person employed by a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed.” – Elbert Hubbard

This section covers the ways of dealing with editors and describes the editing process to make writing more crisp and accurate. Though not designed specifically for editors, this section will help writers fine-tune their editing skills and understand the editing process better.

People and Politics:

“The word politics is derived from the word, ‘poly’ meaning many, and the word, ‘ticks’ meaning ‘blood-sucking parasites’.” – Larry Hardiman

A writer is a company worker like anyone else and has to deal with company politics and the people around him. This section covers anything to with people and companies. Basically, it is like a “how to survive in any company” guide for a technical writer.

Layout and Graphic Arts:

“Art for art’s sake. Money for God’s sake.” _Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman

This section deals with preparing a manuscript for layout, the layout process itself, how to manage graphic artists and other related topics.

Interface Design:

“Technology is ruled by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand.” – Mike Trout (Putt’s Law)

This chapter introduces the writer to the basic concepts involved in designing interfaces for products- both hardware and software- so that they are better suited to human beings especially nontechnical human beings. The information in this section can be used to contribute to design but mainly serves the purpose of helping the writer better understand what he is writing about. The Julie Doll case is presented here as an example of cultural mismatch.

Philosophy:

“ The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.’ – Bertrand Russell

This section covers the things that do not fit in anywhere else. The information here is not specific to technical or UnTechnical writing, but applies to all kinds of writing.

Exhibits:

This section of the book contains sample forms, lists and worksheets that may be useful for any writer during the writing process.

Appendices:

Book Review: UnTechnical Writing: How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So Anyone Can Understand, by Michael Bremer

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