

Simple language, unambiguity, relevancy of content, and a clarity of structure and logic in the document as to how the information flows-these are the points I focus on to ensure that the subject matter is easily understood by the people who need to understand it and make the right decisions.” Know your goals So I have to exercise discretion in how I write and present the facts. And not everyone has the time, inclination or ability to be able to cope with long convoluted jargon-heavy issues. Not everyone knows or even needs to know every little nitty-gritty and detail. Shivani Rohatgi, Operations Integration Leader at GE, says: “I have to write up several reports for the higher management, not to mention detailed requirements for those at the ground-level, and various types of documentation for different teams and departments like IT, suppliers, marketing, sales and support across the organization. Once you gain fluency, it is easy to search online and subscribe to newsletters that discuss the hot topics of the day, any of which you can pick up and write about. Chances are you will share your interests with a fair section of the readership and there will be enough takers for your article. To begin with, you can write about whatever appeals to you personally. When it comes to picking the actual topic, there is no limit. You can, however, introduce the topic of Mayflower within that constraint.


For instance, you cannot cover the entire history of early American settlers in a thousand words. Be realistic when setting those boundaries. You need to concentrate on a very small aspect of a particular subject and write strictly within the scope of such boundaries. By the time your piece actually appears in print, it has already become outdated. With the advent of fast communication devices, news and views travel faster than it will take you to read through till the end of this sentence and while your fingers are labouring away on 800 words about what you think is the latest must-have gizmo, elsewhere in the world there have already been three more innovations made to it. Often a subject may be so vast and intricate there is no way to write everything about everything. So make no mistake-if you slip up, you get slapped down. For example, in the IT field, “RAM” is neither a male sheep nor a Hindu god. Complex industries rely heavily on jargon and you need to ensure you are on intimate terms with it. Unless you are well-versed with the topic of discussion, lack of experience will lay you open to ridicule. This means that every pair of eyes reading your work will be scrutinizing for mistakes and the brains behind them will be working constantly to analyse and either accept or reject your commentary. Thanks to the Internet, every Tom, Dick and Hari from Ireland to India has access to a wealth of information on every topic. While this is true for most specialist industries like manufacturing, legal, shipping and the like, this is especially true for any technical industry where the playing field is the whole world. To put it very bluntly, you cannot write on a complex subject unless you know what you’re talking about. So how do you ensure that you’ve got the know-how as well as the can-do this requires. And this means keeping things simple-writing about complicated stuff in an uncomplicated way for the benefit of the layperson. Whether you’re writing about the latest scientific advancement, or unveiling secrets of great historical pith and moment, or even jousting around different political perspectives, your audience has to be able to understand what they’re reading. And who better to do the job than a writer with knowledge of the inner workings of the system? Learn how Little wonder then, that this progress needs-and indeed deserves-to be documented, not only accurately but also engagingly. From the invention of the wheel, to the first cloned sheep, to putting the “smart” into every single smart gadget available on the market today, we’ve come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Anyone who does not live under a rock will know that the IT field, along with biotech, space and genetics, has been one of the fastest growing, changing and revolutionizing areas of work in the world. I’ve been working in the Information Technology industry in various capacities for the last decade.
