Randy A Brown

Category: Technical Writing for Non-Writers

  • What Technical Writing Actually Is (And What It Isn’t)

    What Technical Writing Actually Is (And What It Isn’t)

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Ask ten people what technical writing is, and you’ll get ten different answers.

    Some think it’s about jargon.
    Others think it’s about manuals.
    Some assume it’s basically programming with words.
    Others confuse it with marketing, blogging, or academic writing.

    This confusion is one of the biggest reasons capable people avoid technical writing or feel like they’re failing at it.

    So let’s clarify:

    Technical writing is not about sounding technical.
    It’s about making complex things usable.

    Once you understand that, everything else starts to make sense.

    What Technical Writing Actually Is

    At its core, technical writing is problem-solving for readers.

    It answers questions like:

    • How does this work?
    • How do I use this correctly?
    • Why did this fail?
    • What do I do next?
    • What decision should I make with this information?

    Technical writing sits at the intersection of:

    • Understanding
    • Clarity
    • Accuracy
    • Usefulness

    It translates systems into steps, ideas into models, and complexity into action.

    Good technical writing doesn’t impress readers.
    It helps them.

    Technical writing simplifies.

    What Technical Writing Is Not

    Let’s clear away a few common misconceptions.

    1. It’s Not About Using Big or “Technical” Words

    Using complex language doesn’t make writing technical; it makes it harder to use.

    In fact, the more complex the subject, the simpler the language should be.

    Technical writing values:

    • Plain language
    • Clear definitions
    • Concrete examples
    • Consistent terminology

    If your writing sounds impressive but confuses people, it’s not technical writing. It’s noise.

    2. It’s Not Just Documentation or Manuals

    Documentation is only one form of technical writing.

    Technical writing includes:

    • Tutorials and how-to guides
    • Knowledge base articles
    • Internal process documentation
    • System explanations
    • API docs
    • Technical blog posts
    • Reports and specifications
    • Training materials
    • Decision-support content

    Any time someone needs help understanding or using something complex, technical writing is involved.

    3. It’s Not Marketing (Even When It Supports Marketing)

    Technical writing and marketing writing serve different goals.

    Marketing persuades.
    Technical writing enables.

    That doesn’t mean technical writing can’t support sales or adoption — it often does — but its primary purpose is clarity, not conversion.

    When technical writing becomes overly promotional, trust drops.

    And trust is everything.

    4. It’s Not About Showing How Smart You Are

    This one especially trips up smart people.

    Technical writing often requires downshifting intelligence rather than displaying it.

    The goal isn’t:

    “Look how much I know.”

    The goal is:

    “Now you know enough to move forward.”

    That requires humility, empathy, and restraint, not ego. Don’t let yourself get in the way.

    What Technical Writing Is Built On

    If technical writing isn’t about jargon or impressing people, what is it built on?

    Here are the real foundations.

    1. Audience Awareness

    Every technical document has a reader with:

    • A specific role
    • A specific goal
    • A specific level of knowledge
    • Limited time and attention

    Great technical writing adapts to them, not the writer.

    2. Clear Purpose

    Every technical document should answer one core question:

    “What problem does this solve for the reader?”

    If you can’t answer that clearly, the document will drift, no matter how well-written it sounds.

    3. Mental Models

    Technical writing makes invisible systems visible.

    It explains:

    • How parts relate
    • Why steps matter
    • Where decisions happen
    • What causes outcomes

    Words are just the delivery mechanism.
    The model is the real product.

    4. Structure Over Style

    In technical writing, structure does most of the work.

    Headings, lists, sequences, diagrams, and consistent formatting matter more than elegant prose.

    Clarity beats beauty every time.

    Why This Matters (Especially If You Think You’re “Not a Writer”)

    Many people assume they can’t do technical writing because they don’t “feel like writers.”

    But technical writing isn’t driven by creativity or flair; it’s driven by thinking clearly.

    If you:

    • Understand systems
    • Solve problems
    • Explain things verbally
    • Help others get unstuck
    • See patterns others miss

    You’re already doing the hard part.

    Writing is just how the understanding gets delivered.

    A Reframe Worth Keeping

    Here’s a healthier way to think about technical writing:

    Technical writing is teaching, quietly.

    No stage.
    No spotlight.
    No ego.

    Just helping someone move from confusion to clarity.

    Final Thought

    Once you stop trying to sound technical and start trying to be helpful, technical writing becomes lighter, calmer, and more humane.

    And ironically, that’s when it starts to feel professional.

  • Why Smart People Struggle With Writing (And How to Fix It)

    Why Smart People Struggle With Writing (And How to Fix It)

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Most people assume writing is easy for smart people.

    After all, smart people think well, explain things well, and learn quickly. So, writing should be effortless, right?

    In practice, the opposite is often true.
    Smart people, including engineers, managers, and leaders, tend to struggle with writing, especially technical writing, documentation, and communication-heavy work.

    This isn’t because they lack vocabulary, education, or capability.

    It’s because writing exposes the part of thinking most people keep hidden: the messy, complex, unstructured middle. These require skills that smart people don’t often have time to develop.

    In this article, we’ll look at three reasons why intelligent, capable people struggle with writing and how to fix each one.

    1. Cognitive Overload: Too Much Held in the Mind at Once

    Smart people tend to think several steps ahead.
    They connect ideas quickly and intuitively.
    They don’t follow a linear path: they follow patterns.

    This is fantastic for problem-solving, but it’s terrible for writing.

    When you sit down to write, you’re asking your brain to:

    • Generate ideas
    • Structure them
    • Sequence them
    • Clarify them
    • Edit them
    • and do it all in real time

    That’s too much cognitive load, even for high-capacity thinkers.

    What it feels like:

    • “I know what I want to say, but I can’t get it out.”
    • “It makes sense in my head, but not on the page.”
    • “I don’t know where to start.”
    • “I can’t find the right angle.”

    The fix:

    Separate thinking from writing.

    Before writing, ask:

    “What problem does this document solve for the reader?”

    Then list 5–10 bullet points.
    Don’t wordsmith. Don’t edit. Don’t care about quality yet.

    Thinking first → writing second reduces cognitive load significantly.

    Writing is not a thinking tool for everyone.
    For many smart people, writing is a rendering tool; the final step, not the first.

    2. Unclear Mental Models: The Curse of Tacit Knowledge

    Smart people often carry internal models that are never fully verbalized.

    They understand how something works, but they don’t consciously label the pieces.

    This is called tacit knowledge; knowledge you know but cannot immediately explain.

    Examples:

    • Developers who understand a system but struggle to document it
    • Managers who can see the workflow but can’t describe the steps
    • Engineers who intuitively debug without explaining the path
    • Founders who understand a vision but can’t express it cleanly

    Tacit knowledge doesn’t turn into writing automatically.

    What it feels like:

    • “Everyone already knows this.”
    • “This part isn’t important.”
    • “It works in my head, so why can’t I explain it?”
    • “I keep skipping steps because they seem obvious.”

    The fix:

    Externalize the mental model.

    Ask yourself:

    “If I had to teach this to an intelligent beginner, what would the steps be?”

    Then write the steps.

    Not the sentences.
    Not the paragraphs.
    Just the steps.

    Document the model before you document the words.

    Once the model exists, writing becomes clear.

    3. Writing Without a Purpose: Words Without Direction

    Smart people often start writing too early.

    They open a document and start typing; not because they’re ready, but because they feel they should be.

    Without realizing it, they skip the question:

    “What is this writing supposed to achieve?”

    All effective writing has a purpose, but the purpose varies:

    • Documentation reduces confusion
    • Explanations increase understanding
    • Proposals drive decision-making
    • Reports summarize information
    • Training materials transfer knowledge
    • Marketing persuades or inspires action

    Different purposes require different structures.

    Smart people struggle when they write without selecting the purpose first.

    The fix:

    Name the purpose before writing.

    Just ask:

    “When the reader finishes this, what do I want them to know, feel, or do?”

    If you can answer that in one sentence, the structure becomes obvious.

    A Pattern Worth Noticing

    If you look at these three struggles together, a theme emerges:

    Smart people don’t struggle with writing because they’re bad at writing.
    They struggle because they’re trying to think, structure, and communicate simultaneously.

    Writing is hard, not because it’s linguistic, but because it’s cognitive.

    The Good News: Writing Is Mostly Thinking

    Once you understand this, everything feels lighter.

    The solution isn’t to try harder.
    It’s to break thinking into manageable phases:

    1. Purpose — Why am I writing this?
    2. Model — How does the idea work?
    3. Structure — In what order should I explain it?
    4. Draft — What words convey the idea?
    5. Edit — What can be removed?

    Most writers skip straight to step 4 and wonder why it doesn’t work.

    Final Thought: Clarity Feels Like Kindness

    When writing becomes clearer, thinking becomes clearer.

    Projects run smoother.
    Teams align faster.
    Readers trust more.
    Work feels lighter.

    Smart people don’t need to learn how to be better writers first.
    They need to learn how to think in a way that makes writing inevitable.

    The words come afterward.

    If You Want to Go Deeper

    If you found this helpful and want to improve your technical writing, documentation, or clarity as a leader, you can explore the rest of the blog or reach out if you need deeper help.

  • What Is Technical Writing?

    What Is Technical Writing?

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    A Clarity-First Guide for Non-Writers

    If you’ve ever thought, “I’m not a writer, but my job keeps asking me to write,” this article is for you.

    Technical writing is often misunderstood. Many people assume it’s about perfect grammar, rigid templates, or specialized tools. In reality, technical writing is about clear thinking and simple communication. It doesn’t have to be complicated to write and difficult to read.

    This guide will explain what technical writing is, why it matters more than ever, and how to approach it even if you don’t consider yourself a writer.

    Technical Writing Defined

    Technical writing is the practice of helping someone understand something clearly, accurately, and efficiently.

    It’s that simple.

    It’s not about sounding impressive.
    It’s not about academic language.
    And it’s not about being “good with words.”

    Technical writing answers three questions for the reader:

    1. What is this?
    2. Why does it matter to me?
    3. What should I do next?

    If your writing does that well, then it’s technical writing, whether you’re documenting software, writing internal procedures, drafting training material, or explaining a complex idea to a team.

    Who Technical Writing Is For

    Despite the name, technical writing isn’t only for professional technical writers.

    It’s for:

    • Engineers who document systems
    • Developers who write README files
    • Managers who create processes and policies
    • Founders who explain products
    • Ministry leaders who write training and teaching material
    • Anyone who turns complex ideas into usable information

    In other words, technical writing is for individuals who think deeply but need to communicate their ideas clearly.

    Smart People Often Struggle With Technical Writing

    One of the biggest myths is that people struggle with writing because they’re bad writers.

    In practice, the opposite is often true.

    Smart people struggle because:

    • They see too much at once
    • They understand the complexity behind the scenes
    • They hold ideas intuitively, not sequentially
    • They skip steps without realizing it

    This leads to writing that feels vague, overwhelming, or hard to follow. Not because the writer lacks intelligence, but because the thinking hasn’t been translated into a structure the reader can use.

    Technical writing is the bridge between how experts think and how readers learn.

    What Technical Writing Is Not

    Understanding what technical writing isn’t can be just as helpful.

    Technical writing is not:

    • Creative writing
    • Marketing copy
    • Academic writing
    • Persuasive rhetoric
    • Personal expression

    That doesn’t mean it’s dry or mechanical. It means the goal is clarity, not style.

    Good technical writing may be simple.
    It may be plain.
    It may even feel obvious once it’s written.

    That’s a sign it’s working.

    The Goal of Technical Writing is to Reduce Friction

    Every technical document exists to reduce friction.

    Friction looks like:

    • Confusion
    • Rework
    • Repeated questions
    • Misalignment
    • Stress and frustration
    • Time wasted figuring things out

    Clear writing reduces friction by:

    • Making decisions visible
    • Making expectations explicit
    • Making the next steps obvious

    In this sense, technical writing is a form of leadership, even if you don’t have a formal leadership title.

    When you write clearly, you guide the reader.

    A Simple Way to Think About Technical Writing

    Before worrying about wording, tools, or templates, focus on this:

    Technical writing is thinking on behalf of the reader.

    That means:

    • Anticipating questions
    • Removing ambiguity
    • Making assumptions visible
    • Respecting the reader’s time and attention

    If you do that well, the writing almost takes care of itself.

    A Clarity-First Framework (Preview)

    Throughout this blog, I’ll return to a simple framework for technical writing. For now, here’s a preview:

    Before you write, ask:

    1. Who is this for?
    2. What must they understand or do when they’re done reading?
    3. What structure will get them there with the least effort?

    Notice what’s missing:

    • Fancy language
    • Writing tricks
    • Productivity hacks

    Those come later (if they’re needed at all).

    Why Technical Writing Matters More Than Ever

    We live in a world of:

    • Increasing complexity
    • Distributed teams
    • Remote work
    • Rapid change
    • Constant information overload

    In this environment, clarity is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.

    Organizations don’t fail because people lack intelligence.
    They fail because understanding doesn’t travel well.

    Technical writing is how understanding travels.

    If You Don’t See Yourself as a Writer

    That’s okay.

    You don’t need to become a writer to write well.
    You need to become a clear thinker who writes with intention.

    This blog exists to help thoughtful people:

    • Communicate complex ideas simply
    • Write with confidence, not anxiety
    • Lead through clarity rather than volume
    • Reduce stress by reducing confusion

    If that sounds useful, you’re in the right place.

    What’s Coming Next

    In the next article, we’ll explore why smart people struggle with writing and why that’s not a personal failure.

    From there, we’ll build practical, calm systems for writing that:

    • Respect how your mind works
    • Fit into real-world constraints
    • Improve communication without burnout

    Clarity is learnable.
    And it starts with how you think, not how you write.