Can experience in creating fiction books help in writing documentation?
One has a carefree muse, a desired but often unexpected inspiration, emotions that literally soak the text, like cream into the layers of a cake. The other has immersion in the product, studying technical subtleties, discipline and daily painstaking work with the text.
It seems that the paths of fiction and technical writers never cross. In this article, I will tell you why they have much more in common than it seems at first glance. The article may be useful for journalists, writers, copywriters and other humanities scholars who want to master the profession of a technical writer and start working in an IT company.
How did a deeply committed humanities scholar become an IT specialist?
I attended a literary studio from the age of six. I graduated with a master's degree in journalism. I worked as an editor of the university press service, an advertising manager for the philharmonic, and the editor-in-chief of a sports magazine. I published on Litnet science fiction novel. This is the typical path of a humanities scholar, for whom working on a text is both a way to earn money and a passionate hobby.
Who would have thought that, being an experienced philologist, I would unexpectedly become an employee of X5 Tech and write technical texts for the Feedback project at Pyaterochka.
When my friends find out what profession I have recently mastered, they reward me with surprised looks. Documentation seems too far removed from artistic and even journalistic works, and the only thing they have in common is poring over the text, which is the basis of both professions.
Two boots don't make a pair?
If you look closely at the roadmaps that the writer and tech writer follow, you will find many similar attitudes.
Step 1: It all starts with the target audience
Before you sit down to read a book, writer determines the genre that is created so that the author and his reader are more likely to find each other and not be disappointed in the choice.
In the publishing world, the concepts of “target audience” and “genre” can easily be put on an equal footing. No one expects a young adult book to have a deep scientific basis, or epic fantasy to be a closed space with a limited number of characters.
Techpis writes instructions, service descriptions, FAQs and other types of documentation, interface texts, as well as texts for chatbots and newsletters. Each type has its own goals and features. The level of detail in the description, terms or their absence is dictated by the target audience. Therefore, before starting work on the text, the tech writer studies Tone of Voiceand most importantly, it determines who will read the document and why. The presentation of the material and the style will be completely different in the API description and in the texts for the chatbot.
“Target audience research” sounds formal and lifeless, but behind this concept are conversations and understanding of the pain points of real people – users who use a product or service and face difficulties.
Techpis does not simply list the obvious characteristics of an abstract group of people – he:
bit by bit collects valuable clues about the negative and positive emotions of a certain circle of users;
asks the product manager;
asks questions to business and systems analysts;
If possible, tries to communicate with representatives of the target audience.
Stage 2. Concept of creativity and concept of the document
“Every translator is a bit of a werewolf”
Natalia Osoianu, writer and translator of science fiction and fantasy authors
The metaphor applies to both writers: the reader must always be sure that:
his favorite author won't start telling a children's story about a murder investigation, or a horror story about rainbow ponies;
and the tech writer won't decide to include terms in user documentation that only members of the product team understand.
Writer thinks through the concept of creativity – decides what will definitely not be in his stories, and what values he will reveal with joy.
Techpis reflects:
what the user may already know about the product;
what difficulties he will encounter at different stages of using the product;
how to help him not only overcome these difficulties, but also enjoy using the product.
The technical writer answers the question of what specific benefit the document will bring to the target audience, and based on this answer formulates the purpose of the document.
Stage 3. Global idea and structure
The concept of creativity writer serves as the basis on which the idea for a book series grows and blossoms.
The global idea of the story is revealed closer to its end, but not at the beginning, but the first book has a different, special mission – to captivate the reader.
The author's task is to make the conflict nodes so interesting and the characters so alive that they are remembered, and at the end of the first book the reader has a feeling of anticipation.
The process of thinking through the main idea of a book series is similar to drawing up the structure of a document. Techpis develops a list of sections, distributes information between them and determines structural links between sections.
The user will not find answers to all questions on the first page, but will understand the path he has to take in order to confidently say to himself at the end: “Now I know how it works!”
The task of a technical writer is to develop a structure with love and care for the user that will help navigate the document and quickly find the necessary information.
During the work process, the list and order of sections may change, but the most important sections most often “migrate” from one document to another:
start distribution page;
new in service;
create an account;
working with the service;
questions and answers and so on.
Stage 4. Communication as a preparatory stage
The work does not exist yet, but to the writer It would be nice to establish an emotional connection with it – to animate the story, to pretend that it, like a person, has a character, to communicate with the future book.
This is not about a detailed plan for each chapter, but only about a general understanding:
what will be the character, that is, the aesthetics of the story;
how a book can make a reader fall in love with it;
who is the main character;
from whose point of view the story will be told;
what will be the first (and maybe the last) sentence;
when the idea is revealed 100%.
The main thing is not to be scared if you decide to write a horror story, and it suddenly reciprocates your interest, like Tom Riddle's diary or The Monster Book of Monsters in Harry Potter.
Techpisu conversations are much more enjoyable than if the writer were writing a horror story. These are meetings with support and subject matter experts. Tech writers conduct interviews to learn as much as possible about the product or service's features and the problems of the target audience.
But communication can be long and difficult, because the goal of tech writing is to identify the target audience's pain points and how to treat them.
Stage 5. Deep immersion into a fictional world or service
Even if in your head writer the images of the main characters appear, it will not be possible to immediately think them through in detail – first you need to develop at least the basic laws of the fictional world, at least the physical ones.
If the main role is played by an alien, then until the author decides what planet the hero lives on, what color his skin is, what his physiology is in general, it is impossible to think through the character.
The writer studies the characters thoroughly to make them alive and believable. Many profiles appear: carefully drawn maps of the world, meticulously described political, economic and cultural aspects, rituals of the author's race, dossiers on each character.
Techpis immerses himself in service. To do this, he works in two different directions:
When a tech writer joins a team that has never worked with tech writers before, there is often no documentation at all, or it was written by a contractor and is no longer relevant, or it is presented as a description of individual product or service functions prepared by system analysts, developers, and testers. Often, a bonus is draft diagrams and other attempts to structure the accumulated pile of valuable information that the tech writer needs to study and turn into full-fledged documentation.
It is a big plus if a tech writer has the opportunity to work on a test bench: flip through pages, press buttons, run scenarios – that is, be a confused user before becoming a confident author of instructions or technical descriptions.
Stage 6. Structuring the collected material
One fine early morning or one dreary gloomy evening, writer He uses all the napkins he used to write down important ideas on and watches them create collaborations and coalitions. His head is in chaos because of everything he wants to put in the book. Individual dialogues and scenes flash through his consciousness. Brainstorming leads to the characters starting to conflict with each other.
The writer twists and turns scraps of paper with ideas, but at the moment when logic begins to emerge from the chaos, the writer forces himself to abandon such romantic and poetic, but still disorder, and calculate plot lines, key turns and conflict nodes with mathematical precision.
Techpis Less likely to leave notes on napkins, he is much more likely to multiply folders on his desktop or pages in the team's online space, so chaos also finds a place in his work processes.
But tech writing, of course, does not seek to unleash conflicts, but on the contrary, thinks through all the questions that the target audience may have. If tech writing copes with this task, the user will most likely not even pay attention to the text itself: he will simply find the answers and leave with a feeling of complete confidence that he knows how to continue working with the product or service.
Mathematical precision is an option that is activated as soon as the tech writer starts organizing the collected information. The document structure that the tech writer developed in advance, at the “Global Idea and Structure” stage, helps a lot with this.
Step 7: Thinking through a chapter, section or page
It would seem that after so many questionnaires, depressing thoughts and strategic games, one can finally sit down to write the text. – Alas and ah, but this is not so.
Before you create your first draft, writer does preparatory work for a particular chapter or scene – decides what emotion the reader should experience, what episode of the plot and what ideas should be revealed in a fragment of the story.
The same is true for techpisa. When the information is roughly divided into sections, the technical writing determines which part of the system and which functions it will describe in one section or on one page.
As the work progresses, additional questions arise. To find answers, the tech writer again works with the test stand or, if necessary, meets with experts.
Understanding of the product, which was previously high-level, gradually becomes deeper and more detailed.
A heap of information fits into the head, and only after the ideas sprout in the consciousness, each of the writers takes up a clean sheet of paper.
Step 8: Create a draft
At this stage, both writers record everything that comes to mind, and at the same time try not to edit or even reread the newly created, still “hot” text. It is better to put it aside and give it time to “cool down.”
Working on a text is like a ladder to victory, but there is one “but”: during the writing of a book or document, the wonderful moment when the draft is written gradually loses its novelty and value. In place of the steps to success, a circle appears – and a closed one at that. The writer faces the task of writing 20-30 chapters, the technical writer – 10-15 sections, and work on a book or document ceases to be perceived as a progressive upward movement.
The writer and the tech writer do the same thing over and over again: they create a text and then destroy it.
Stage 9. Proofreading the text
The writer moves on to editing and proofreading, the technical writer moves on to reviewing, but whatever you call this process of text processing, the goal is the same – to make it not only useful, but also concise and understandable.
Writer edits and corrects the text independently, and then passes the text on to professional editors and proofreaders for proofreading.
Techpis First, he conducts a self-review, and then an internal review – he passes the text on to his technical colleagues for proofreading.
A writer and a technical writer, as well as specialists who help them proofread the text, need such qualities as efficiency and a “diamond eye”, or better yet, a “scanning gaze”, like that of an indifferent but meticulous robot.
The proofreading process includes a number of tasks:
get rid of typos;
remove unnecessary words, sentences and paragraphs;
replace cliches and official jargon with simple, understandable phrases;
check the factual material and so on.
Step #10: Saving Important Notes
When the agonizing process of proofreading finally comes to an end, are the writers… well done? – No, not yet.
Both writers have to unleash a “superhero” – call him Table Man, Schematic Man, or whatever.
A superhero is needed to:
record important information;
avoid repetition of parts of the history or description of the system;
in the book, alternate dynamic and calmer chapters, and provide the document with clear and convenient navigation.
When a book or document is ready, every writer begins a new journey, which requires:
approve the book with the editor or coordinate the document with the customer;
publish text;
promote the book on social networks or keep the document up to date.
Are the authors of the texts superheroes?
Both writers need special skills to navigate this thorny path.
Hard skills
The big difference is in the way of thinking: to the writer need a figurative one, techpisu — analytical. Knowledge of literary theory will be an advantage for a writer, as well as basic knowledge of IT for a tech writer. Differences are also noticeable in the tools, but otherwise the skills are similar.
Soft skills
It seems that for a tech writer, the ability to work in a team, organizational and communication skills are more relevant than for a writer, but this is not so. Writing heartfelt stories is beyond the power of a person who does not communicate with people, and without the ability to work in a team, co-authorship, a decent cover, and especially the promotion of creativity are unavailable.
The picture is even more indicative than with hard skills, because the soft skills coincide 100% for both writers.
What books should I read to write?
When I was learning the trade of technical writing, colleagues recommended many of the same books on writing that I read to create my own sci-fi story. This is further proof of the kinship between fiction and technical writing.
These are the books:
Maxim Ilyakhov, Lyudmila Sarycheva “Write, Cut”
Nora Gal “The Living and the Dead Word”
Anne Lamott “Bird by Bird”
Austin Kleon “Steal Like an Artist”
Julia Cameron “The Right to Write”
What conclusions can be drawn?
Fiction and technical writing have much more in common than it might seem at first glance.
It is based not only on the general principle of operation, but also on a similar path from the question “Who will benefit from this text?” to the point “Proofreading completed”.
The skills needed by both writers are largely the same.
Under the hood or behind the scenes of text creation, very similar processes occur.
Hence the conclusion: experience in creating texts, including fiction, at the very least does not hinder, but rather even helps in writing documentation.
A nice bonus for tech writers. Take a look at fiction. You have a great chance, and perhaps we will soon see your masterpiece on the bookshelves.
I want to please everyone who works with texts. You can master a new field for yourself – the profession of a technical writer and become part of an IT company, quite possibly even part of the X5 Tech tech writers team.
