Writing should serve the reader, not the author's vanity. Every word must earn its place on the page. Remove what does not serve the meaning. What remains becomes stronger.
The best prose feels invisible. Readers forget they are reading. They see only the ideas, the images, the story unfolding before them. This invisibility requires tremendous effort to achieve.
Technical writing demands even greater clarity than literature. The reader comes seeking answers, not entertainment. Respect their time. Give them what they need, nothing more, nothing less.
Consider these guidelines:
Software has become bloated. We added features nobody asked for while neglecting the fundamentals. A word processor should process words. An editor should edit. Instead we get:
The web could have solved this. HTML and CSS provide everything needed for beautiful documents. But commercial interests pushed us toward complexity.
The best tool is the one that disappears, leaving only the work.
Return to simplicity. Use open formats. Store documents as plain HTML that anyone can read, edit, and archive. Make the interface minimal. Focus on the text.
Give users control over typography. Let them choose fonts that suit their purpose. Provide sensible defaults but allow customization. Make printing work correctly.
Version control becomes trivial when your documents are just text files. Collaboration improves when everyone can use their preferred tools. Archival storage costs nothing when formats remain readable decades later.
A proper document editor needs only:
No database. No server. No subscription. No tracking. Just you and your words.
This document itself demonstrates the concept. It exists as simple HTML. You can save it, edit it, version it with git, email it to a colleague, or print it to PDF. It will look the same everywhere. It will remain readable as long as browsers exist.
That is how it should be.