The Creative Clash

Recently, I had to prove to someone that, despite years working as a writer or editor for software companies that produced highly-technical software, I was actually creative.

I thought the evidence was in plain sight. For example, this blog. I'm not writing about motherboards, legislation, or e-commerce, but everyday topics that (for whatever reason) strike my fancy that day.

Besides the poems or editorials I wrote in college, or websites and logos I've designed, what other evidence is needed?

Perhaps I need to purchase "creative" clothing. Maybe, instead of the khakis and v-neck t-shirts, I need to break-out my old pair of Vans and don Ed Hardy (for you so-called creative writers, tell me why those last three words are my version of word play). Then I can head to my salon and ask for an asymmetrical haircut because nothing speaks, let alone sparks, creativity like a funky haircut. I should also hire a language coach to teach me how to talk slowly but with cool precision when discussing everything from Moby to Picasso to Mies Van Der Rohe.

Maybe writing is like living in Phillip Johnson's glass house---not always functional but what a stage it makes. That is, a person's writing ability is only functional until they present it a certain way. Perhaps a writer is only as good as the stage they set; the main character on the playbill dresses, acts, speaks, and writes in a certain way for a certain audience.

Then again, maybe I'm the ultimate creative person because I've spent the last seven years masquerading as a technical writer when all I want to do is write engaging, creative copy that makes people laugh, cry, and, most importantly, read and think.

The biggest challenge? Silencing the critics who've only seen the opening act and convincing those who haven't seen it to pay for the show.

Self-Checkout Lines for Control Freaks, Aisle 1

I absolutely love chatting with people; I believe everyone on this planet has something important to say. However, when I'm at the market, I have one thing in mind: get home as quickly as possible.

I'll admit it. I love self-checkout lines at grocery stores because conversation is kept to a minimum - the only time you really need to communicate with the clerk is when you've accidentally placed your purse on the scale.

The grocery store has become a labyrinth of liquids and solids. With my latest move, I've had to forget where the olive oil is in Wilsonville, OR to Latham, NY to where it is (now) at Albertson's in Bozeman, MT.

Of course, being in the software industry, I think about how technology could improve the shopper's experience. I recently read an article about carts that feature a hand-held scanner. As a shopper pulls down items they want from the shelf, they scan the item and place it in their cart. After piling in the cereal, sushi, wheat bread, peanut butter, steak, and vegetables, they can pay for their vittles using the shopping cart's system. (Does anyone find it hilarious that e-commerce uses a shopping cart for checkout and now virtual reality has become reality?)

Personally, I'd go for it because my personal bubble is continually being invaded at the self-checkout line. Apparently, most people were absent the day Emily Post told you not to handle other people's fruit. ;^P

Before you think technology hasn't invaded your town, check again. LEDs, LCDs, and touch pads might give the developers away (as well as Star Wars references in the code).

So, if the self-checkout line is full, just grab your light saber, I mean, scanner and defeat Darth Tater to make a mean meal that would make any Jedi proud (and full).

Blog, Blog, Baby...Vanilla

It's all about the blog, baby, so why am I stumped to write a title? I took a lame (and contrived) rap tune released in the 90s and threw it into a Cuisinart to get this pathetic pate of a paragraph.

I've been thinking about words and how language fits into my career. I'm a technical communicator but was never a language czar wearing a flak jacket with WEA (Word Enforcement Agency) on the back. I began my career as an editor and flourished because I knew how to let people find their voice and if they had been writing for years, I knew how to let that voice boom and pop as a funky fresh rhythm in the annals of the software company I worked at.

Perhaps that's why editing and editing with a knack for an easygoing, conversational flow has been my gig of choice (over starched documentation that, while grammatically correct, lacks the delicate balance---talk with the user; don't speak to the user). I started writing when I was quite young but graduated to editing the high school newspaper. In college, I loved science and technology and writing, so I picked Technical Communication. Plus, I admit, I am a member of the geek club with my membership card tucked quietly behind my old Pearl Jam tickets.

I won't lie to you...I notice typos in emails and on popular websites, such as CNN, but I'm not getting out the red pen anytime soon. The beauty of writing and editing is that you can learn how to improve your writing from more experienced writers and teach other, less experienced writers how to write better.

I guess this post is filler; cheese for the ravioli; heady plot for the washed-up daytime soap opera; and banal banter between two aging sportscasters looking to net a pullquote in the Post for the Spurs-Cavaliers game.

Keep reading...I'll try to keep it interesting and entertaining. And, just maybe, my smooth blogging will melt away any preconceived notions that a technical commmunicator can't be creative.