Monday, September 13, 2010

Instructions

Of all the different types of documents and papers to write, writing instructions might seem to be the easiest, but in actuality they are (at least for me) more difficult to write than the most in depth essays.

All our lives we have been taught to write creatively and whimsically where as instructions are almost the exact opposite. Instructions are extremely "mechanical" in writing. The fewer thesaurus words and wonderfully long-winded sentences the better. The irony of this to me is instructions could arguably be the most practical form of writing. Rather than beat around the bush with different tones, themes, symbols, etc. you know exactly where you are trying to take people and you must do it in the most concise, easy to understand way possible.

1 comment:

  1. I actually find it refreshing. One of the things that I hate about writing is that it is subjective. I can write something that I think is great, but other people might hate. Instructions, while still being a little bit subjective, is more objective than other types of writing. They are either good instructions, or bad instructions. It may not be necessarily easier to write, but I like the change of pace.

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