The Writing Triangle

I think that there is an equivalent of the good/quick/cheap job triangle, but for written communication. It’s the precise/succinct/simple triangle. Perhaps (in most cases) you can only have two of these at any time – it’s a trade off we make when choosing how to communicate. But perhaps there is a way to work around it. Here’s the idea… There’s this thing – it probably has an official name that I don’t know – that says that services or trades can be any two of cheap, quick and good, but never all three. A cheap, quick job won’t be good; a quick, good job won’t be cheap; and a good, cheap job won’t be quick. I’ve been thinking about written communication – I have some documentation in progress for a side project! – and I’ve realised that perhaps something similar can be said about writing. I came up with a precise/succinct/simple triangle: Precise, succinct communication won’t be simple – it needs to use jargon or terminology that perhaps assumes specific knowledge from the reader.…