Introduction: The Hiccup Rule

The goal of technical writing, unlike academic or creative writing, is to get the information into the reader’s head as quickly as possible with no voice, persuasion, or distracting language. Users often come to the documentation only after they’re already frustrated, and they don’t have the patience to wade through grammatically perfect but confusing or flowery sentences.

This is where the hiccup rule comes in. If you stop mid-sentence and realize you are a bit lost and need to re-read the sentence, it has caused you a mental “hiccup” and needs rewriting. It doesn’t matter if the sentence is grammatically correct: if it fails the hiccup rule, it is wrong. This rule is more important than anything else you will learn in this guide.

There are times when I’m reading a novel and find myself so distracted by beautiful prose or clever wording that I have to go back and re-read the sentence or paragraph. I often enjoy this experience, but it also pulls me out of the story and makes me think about the author and about writing, so I tend to follow the hiccup rule with my creative writing as well. It’s completely up to you to decide what your goal is as a writer. When writing blog posts and tutorials, a conversational tone can help keep the reader engaged. When writing documentation and training slides, however, it’s better to keep the content as concise and direct as possible.

Whatever your goal may be, it’s helpful to know the rules so that you can break them with discretion. The lessons in this guide will give you the confidence to do just that—without hiccups.

Note: If you have real hiccups, drinking water upside-down always works for me.