> HOWEVER. Writing is its own craft, and requires a totally separate set of skills than your typical engineer-turned-technical-writer is generally equipped with. They tend towards considering only what they want the reader to do or think, not necessarily who the reader might be or what _they_ want to get out of the writing.
In my experience - and as a problem on top - writing seems to be one of these crafts in which experience accrues slowly and usually only with good readers.
For example, I've removed "just simply" from my usual documentation vocabulary by just simply following a few steps - sorry, that was too tempting to leave out :) But one realization that drove me away from "simply" was: Simply usually is an imprecise word and this lack of precision opens up doors for misunderstanding. Often when I used simple, I meant it as "simple process" vs "convoluted process". In those cases, I replaced it with "straight-forward" or similar words. This is intended for the reader to judge if they are getting into a process you can just do during a boring meeting, or if they are about to enter some escher-esque rabbit hole.
However, this realization was mostly driven by good readers who informed me about possible misinterpretations my choice of words offers to them. So, even if it sounds nit-picky, go ahead and point out such things and start looking for those. It'll make you a better writer, and other writers around you better.
The best thing I ever did for my writing was subject it to editors and beta readers. It can be hard to find friends who are willing to pick your writing apart, but they're the best kind.
Another way to put this advice on how to write with precision is: carefully consider any use of an adverb in formal writing (pun intended). Most adverbs in formal writing can be replaced by using a better adjective or verb. For some reason, adverbs like "simply" and "quickly" make people feel bad when the process isn't simple or quick, but using words like "straightforward" does not.
In my experience - and as a problem on top - writing seems to be one of these crafts in which experience accrues slowly and usually only with good readers.
For example, I've removed "just simply" from my usual documentation vocabulary by just simply following a few steps - sorry, that was too tempting to leave out :) But one realization that drove me away from "simply" was: Simply usually is an imprecise word and this lack of precision opens up doors for misunderstanding. Often when I used simple, I meant it as "simple process" vs "convoluted process". In those cases, I replaced it with "straight-forward" or similar words. This is intended for the reader to judge if they are getting into a process you can just do during a boring meeting, or if they are about to enter some escher-esque rabbit hole.
However, this realization was mostly driven by good readers who informed me about possible misinterpretations my choice of words offers to them. So, even if it sounds nit-picky, go ahead and point out such things and start looking for those. It'll make you a better writer, and other writers around you better.