 This month’s newsletter discusses a little pet peeve of mine (so humor me, please).
This minor annoyance became rooted in my background as a technical writer. As a tech writer, I wrote a lot of software user manuals, mainly the sections instructing users how to use the software. I had to document every. single. step. Drilling down to that level of detail was crucial because otherwise, leaving out the tiniest fragment of information would frustrate the user. I mean, these days, who hasn’t been confronted with assembly instructions that aren’t even specific to the product in front of you? You make your best guess, and keep your fingers crossed! Having had this experience more than once taught me never to assume my audience had a certain level of knowledge and to fully and clearly explain EVERYTHING. As a copywriter, I find in-depth explanations essential, especially if the content is supposed to be educational and informative. So, as you endeavor to explain a concept, idea, procedure, or whatever in your writing – and here’s my gripe -- don’t forget to define any acronyms or initialisms. There, I said it. And now I feel better. What’s an acronym? It’s when the first letters from a phrase or group of words are strung together and then pronounced as a word. Two well-known examples are SIRI (Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Initialisms are similar in structure to acronyms but differ because each letter is pronounced separately. An example is PCR (polymerase chain reaction), pronounced pee-see-are. It may not seem like a big deal, but it can ruin the moment as readers stumble across these acronyms or initialisms and don’t know what they stand for. If you intend to teach with your content, don’t hold back on sharing your knowledge! Suzanne Quigley is a copywriter specializing in veterinary, equine, and animal health markets. If you need a copywriter experienced in blogging, case studies, white papers, web content, SEO, and more, contact her at 508-277-4929 or [email protected]. |