The problem with professionals writing DIY articles

Looking professional

The article looks good, professional, and the article is written by a different professional writers too. As a result, mostly likely it doesn't accept comments. Any comments would make the article seems unworkable, too difficult for DIYers. So here I am writing this to response to all those who don't accept comments.

Instead of taking time to explain to inexperienced DIYers that have a job to do, these articles have to look professional with a fluent flow of words. Who cares? Under the disguise of plain everyday English, these are concise well written instructions suitable for technical journals and trade magazines. Who cares when I just brought a few dollars of screws and want the job done yesterday?

Too often, the final writer doesn't understand a word what the professional is saying, and sacrifice the content to give the article a professional look - that's how they make money. This is true about all the instruction manuals in the world. The Europeans got rid of words in manuals. The Chinese use their kids to write something that no one will understand anyway, since you ask for it.

Jargons

How many knows what is a door jamb? Do I have to look at the dictionary or Wikipedia or Google every time I came across a term? I know you have a term for everything. But that comes with experience. Since I don't have the money to hire you, can I skip the experience? Is the word jamb necessary? Do I have to learn every part of the door to fix it?

Unnecessary jargons should be avoided. Also a standalone diagram will be great. Some articles seem to be written on the dawn of the internet. They try to save bandwidth by not having diagrams to explain simple things. A pic worth a thousand words. And they may point you to some encyclopedia for the diagrams that's good if you want to get into the trade. I don't.

Two-dimensional thinking

Come on, it's a three-dimensional world. You may have a preferred plane of reference in your trade. But to us mere mortals the world is 3D. What is the center? Of what?

Thinking inside a box

All articles of fixing a sagging door seems to come from the same source. It recommends replacing short screws with 3" ones. It's impossible to screw it in without a pilot hole, I tried. But then you can't find a 3" drill for screws that size. Not in the chain hardware stores. What a waste of time!

That's all for now ...