The Beauty of Technical Writing

This week I assembled a lawn swing that I bought. I took 115 separate pieces and put them into one swing. I followed a total of 18 steps with 22 accompanying diagrams. If I am not in a hurry, I can become very focused and content while following directions. I enjoyed putting this swing together. I remembered taking a technical writing class back in 1982 at the U of M. I learned to appreciate the beauty of well written assembly instructions. The beauty is comes from the intensity, the clarity, and the direct communication. There are no extraneous adverbs in technical writing. Everything is written in the active tense - sort of like a recipe. "Add 1/2 cup milk to egg mixture and stir." "Attach the cross supports and rear upright supports (#6, #7) using bolts (#24), washers (#30) and plastic nuts (#21)". When I work on assembling things like this, I feel a real connection to the author of the instructions. I pay close attention to anything printed in red ink or labeled "Note." I read and reread the 7 pages of instructions. Through it all I noticed only one extra word. Only one word could have been left out and that word was "Congratulations." That word came at the end of the 7 pages followed by "To avoid danger of suffocation, please always keep plastic bags or small parts away from babies and children."