Technical writers may shape future of American lit

OREM — While American literature of the early 20th century was penned by journalists such as Ernest Hemingway or copywriters such as Sherwood Anderson, the next wave of American literature may be penned (or typed) by technical writers, a Utah Valley State College English professor says.

Technical writing didn't exist 50 years ago, but like journalism or copy writing, it provides a "great, practical, roll-up-your-sleeves" practice to creative writing, said Scott Hatch Tuesday night to a dozen members of the Intermountain Chapter of the Society of Technical Communicators.

Before becoming an academic, Hatch was a technical writer in the software industry.

He also writes poetry. Signature Books this year published his collection of poems, "Mapping the Bones of the World."

During his presentation Tuesday, Hatch alternated reading his poetry and sharing his ideas about technical and creative writing.

And there isn't much of a difference between writing forms, he said.

He tells his students to "observe, observe, observe with all your senses. And document."

Good writing, regardless of whether it's poetry or technical, is precise and clear.

"I think in the technical writing world, we are trying to create a one-to-one correspondence to reality," Hatch said. "In poetry, that one-to-one is paramount as well, but it doesn't end there. That is the gateway" to transcendental ideas.

"I think technical writing is probably in some ways, in many important ways, a better education for a creative writer than creative writing," he said.

In class, Hatch does not assign readings from Microsoft or Adobe manuals.

The manuals are tedious and he's afraid they will discourage would-be technical writers from entering the field.

"Although, that might convince them, 'Hey, there is a place in the world for me. I can make a difference,'" Hatch said, and the audience members laughed as they considered examples of poor writing.

Instead, Hatch requires students read "Young Men and Fire," by Norman Maclean, author of "A River Runs through It."

The book is about a 1949 wildfire in rural Montana that left 13 firefighters dead or severely burned.

Maclean started the book nearly 30 years after the fire, yet critics admired its thoroughness.

Hatch believes the book is "good solid writing."

Hatch also recommended books that are packed with detail, yet the stories are not complicated by the authors' egos, such as "Out of Africa," by Isak Dinesen, and "Fate is the Hunter," by Ernest K. Gann and "Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea" by by Richard Henry Dana Jr.

---

E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com