Read to Write

You may heard the saying along these lines:

If you want to be a writer, then write.

The overused cliché in life is when you hear people talking about writing such and such all the time but don't put down a single word on paper or type one on a screen. You won't ever be a writer unless you write. (I'm not talking about those who have finished unpublished work. They did the hard first step. They are writers in my book. There are numerous factors why this happens. But I am not going to address that here.)

While I wholeheartedly agree with this saying above, there's something else you need to do before you become a writer. You must read before you can write. 

As a writer, it's important you become an avid reader. (Audiobooks count too by the way.) This not only stimulates your brain, you can also learn how other writers write. As I mentioned years ago, I learned a lot from June Casagrande's book, as well as Professor Strunk and E.B. White,  William Zinsser, Philip K. Dick, Tolkien, and even the Bible.

It was a privilege to have learned from them and other writers. They helped shape my writing style as a technical writer. And I hope others can learn from me as well. 

Reading is essential to become a writer, including becoming a technical writer. If you want to get into technical writing, you should read technical books or publications themselves to see how they write. (And if there's a industry you want to get into, you should read about it.) When I dove into my first serious foray with API documentation, I read an e-book about this from Zapier to get an understanding. 

You can also read link to it in blog form. Recommend it if you want to get into API writing.

But reading other writers to become one shouldn't simply be about gaining knowledge or emulating someone else's style. When you read like this, it should accomplish two things:

1. See how you could have written it better. (The only big exception is the Bible because that is God's Word. You read that to learn who God is, what God says, and how He wants us to live.)
    
2. Give you the tools needed to create your own style.

While I still appreciate the writers mentioned above, especially the ones that have gone before me, I don't go to them much anymore. I've moved on from them to further hone my craft. But I still love to read. As you go on on your journey as writer, you should be able to do the same.

To be clear, this isn't about one-upmanship. This is about humbly learning from each other. Humility is key to grow as a writer. (I wish I would have learn that from sooner.) If we adopt this mentality, it makes for a much freer, more innovative, and better world. Think about what I'm saying.

Postscript

I will go on to say, if it's possible, you should read more and write less. When I was younger I would have balked at this advice because I was overly eager to become a professional writer. Looking back, I probably would developed my style earlier on if I would have read more. But would it have been style that I have today? Only God knows the answer to that. While this clip in context is about reading more and debating less, I believe there are grains of truth, where we can apply it in our own writing. Even Warren Buffet gives his reason why reading a lot is crucial. He also elaborates on this here. If we read more and wrote less, myself included, I believe there would be far less noise and better, wiser writing out there overall. Hope this helps.

Without growth and conflict, there's no story, even for technical writers

They say without conflict or growth in a character, there's no story. But why? Is this some tired trope or does it apply in real life? Well, let's walk this through. Is there a story when you're just going through your daily routine or when you're having choose between two great job offers? Is there a story when you're ready to get married but an old flame, whom you loved dearly, showed up? What makes even more interesting the reason for your breakup was a simple misunderstanding. Stories aren't just in the realm of fiction. Stories happen all the time in the real world! Why do some people read biographies, autobiographies, memoirs or historical accounts? They deem them to be worthy stories to read. 

Even the Bible, though I fully believe it's God's Word, has elements of story. Here are a few examples: 

• When God tested Abraham and told him to sacrifice his Isaac in Genesis 22. (Thankfully, there was a happy ending to this.)
• The story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37-50.
• Joseph (different one) found out that Mary, who we was engaged to was pregnant and he wanted to divorce her quietly in Matthew 1:18-25. But he was informed that baby was the Promised Messiah, Jesus.
• When Jesus knew His death was near, He ask God, His Father, for Him not to go through it in Matthew 26:36-45, Mark 14:32-42, and Luke 22:39-46.

As conflict and growth of characters are essentials to crafting a good story, I believe these same elements are essential what makes us become better technical writers. How? Well, here are a few examples.

Let's say you're dealing with a difficult SME and you need to deliver some documentation by the next release, which is around the corner. This SME is hard to reach or gives little to no information on crucial parts for the information. So what do you do? Well, you either find a better way to reach this SME or find other key people who can help you get this information. To boot, you get this information at the last minute so you have little time to create quality documentation in the process right before release time.  Doesn't this sound more like a story than dealing with an easy SME, who gives you exactly what you need and when you need it to create the documentation and you're done way before it's time?

To be frank, I like it when there's no drama and I'm able to get everything I need to create a document without issues. I suppose I could say the story is everything lined up exactly as planned. But that's somewhat of a rarity in our line of work. Eventually, this stops becoming a story and morphs into a routine. Where's the growth or conflict? I don't like any conflicts either, but we live in a broken world, so unavoidable. But brokenness births countless stories. This is my problem with those who looking for a "utopia" or demand constant perfection. If we got what many wanted, stories will cease. 

Since conflict is inevitable, it's about knowing about how to find good resolutions to them. That's another key element in what makes a story. Who wants to read a story, unless you're an Eeyore, where there's no satisfying ending. Even open endings can be satisfying, if they're good. 

I'll share a time where there was conflict, resolution, and growth that came from it.

My Story: Creation of a Style Guide

When I was working at a company, the SMEs would fight me and the other technical writer on how to write the documentation. The SMEs wanted to write in passive voice instead of active voice. They also wanted to write "the user" when it was a clear case of writing "you", which was their audience. But to be fair to them, in my zeal for clarity and style, I would in some cases inadvertently change the meaning of the content. (This could have been avoided if we were given access to test the software but that's another topic.) 

We constantly battled over which words and phrases were correct, instead of focusing on releasing the documentation with the software. This fight drained the SMEs and us. The head of the company had to mediate in this conflict. After hearing both sides, he suggested that we technical writers create a style guide. So me and the other technical writer went to work to create the style guide. We used different sources, such as "The Elements of Style", to help us craft our tone and voice for the documentation. 

After much discussion and iterations, we were able to create a style guide that would help direct us and the SMEs on how the documentation would sound. It wasn't perfect, for no style guide is, but it reduced the fights to nearly zero. Those who wanted to fight still, we would just refer them to the style guide and the directive we got from the head of the company about this. 

We both became better technical writers from this. Though at that time, I hated going through every bit of this. I look back and thank God that this happened. If it didn't, I wouldn't have grown as a technical writer.  I learned to better balance clarity and style, while retaining the original meaning of the SMEs intended. By having this balance, the intended audience will get clear and accurate information. This is not to say I've perfected this, but I constantly strive for this balance whenever I create documentation. I've also learned to ask better fundamental questions to better get this balance. And when possible, I ask for ways for me to test what I am writing about. Before this conflict, that wasn't on my mind. 

I have to constantly remind myself conflicts can bring growth. It's too easy to wish a life without problems. Let's resist this silly (quite frankly, unbiblical) thinking. Without conflicts, there's no story. Without story, there's no life. Without life, there's no world.

Some Cliches Still Have Power

With writing, especially technical writing, we're supposed to get rid of cliches. Why? Cliches have been so overused where they lost meaning or power. Yet, if we're honest, we communicate in cliches at times because it best captures something we're trying to say.

The cliche "the pen is mightier than the sword" is true because written works have brought far more change in this world, or destruction in some cases, than any armed revolution or army could ever do.

Even though I'm just a technical writer, I feel humbled to be a part of a craft that has potential to change the world.

Not Just Halloween 

Today, is Halloween also known as All Hallows Eve. However, on this same day, it's

Protestant Reformation Day.

Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, saw the abuses of the Church in his day, where it was more about money and power than about love and grace of Jesus Christ. He was so disgusted that he had to get the word out about these abuses by posting his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church.

And from there, whether for good or for ill,  Martin Luther altered the course of the Western Christian Church, Europe, and eventually good parts of this world.  (If you want to read an in-depth biography about Martin Luther, I recommend Derek Wilson's Out of the Storm.)

Now I'm aware that Martin Luther wasn't perfect. They were things that he said that I'm still scratching my head to this day. But people and their written work don't have to be perfect to affect the world.

When the time and conditions are right, written works are the sparks that set the blaze of change to consume the world.

The Book that Affects Change

But I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Greatest Written Work that has permanently changed the world, the Bible. 

The Bible is the most controversial book known, yet it still changes lives. Empires have fallen. Nations have changed and gotten liberated from their oppressors. Slaves have been set free. People have died over it, especially those who want to get it in the hands of the common people. It has been demonized, mocked, and has polarized people. Wars have been waged over it. Sadly, it has been the most abused written work to justify evil behavior and hatred. Yet, the Bible has been used to stand for justice, liberty, and love. The Bible has the power to affect the world. God said this about His Word:

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

"...so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

What is the Bible? In a nutshell, it's God's story of salvation for humanity and Creation. After He created the world and people and they rebelled against Him (Genesis 1-3), He set a plan to redeem what was lost back to Himself. If you keep these following verses in mind till you get to the end of the Bible, you will see how God's plan of salvation comes together:

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:14‭-‬15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

"The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

The Bible is the written work that has changed and continues to change my life. If you want to know the Bible for yourself, then check it too. You won't be the same.

Thank you for stopping by. Happy Reformation Day! Happy Halloween! God bless!