Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
Technical writing is about communicating key information to the people who need it. It might be a manual for an application, a guide to using heavy machinery, or a diagnostic aide for medical practitioners. It needs to be clear and it needs to be precise. This book shows you how to achieve this and more. Whatever the content or context, in this book you’ll discover the essential tools and resources that you need to create technical writing that works for everyone.
Carrie Marshall is an author and freelance journalist, columnist, copywriter and scriptwriter. She writes features, news and tutorials about technology and has been published in many industry magazines including 'PC Plus', 'Digital Home' and 'What Laptop'. Since 2003, Carrie has also regularly spoken on technology and social media on BBC radio.
Technical writing is about communicating key information to the people who need it. It might be a manual for an application, a guide to using heavy machinery, a diagnostic aide for medical practitioners or a guidance note about new legislation. It needs to be clear and it needs to be precise. This book shows you how to achieve this and more. Whatever the content or context, in this book you’ll discover the essential tools and resources that you need to create technical writing that works for everyone.
'A short no-nonsense guide to technical writing in any context. Writing informational texts is about clarity and results and getting the message across as quickly and accurately as possible, which this book does. This is a useful guide for those who aren’t in the profession of Technical Writing but need to do technical writing as part of their role. Processes and procedures are worthless if the user cannot replicate the desired outcome. This guide provides a useful formula to get good results every time, emphasising the importance of audience perspective, including accessibility considerations.
Accuracy and brevity have never been more important in a world of information overload and multi media options. As advocated in the book, this guide helps information providers make others’ lives easier, which translates to good customer service whether they are inside or outside the organisation. This is a handy companion to “Business writing for technical people”, drawing the distinction between the two styles for the growing need to be able to do both.'
Tracey Torble
'Trying to convey technical information of various levels of complexity to audiences of varying knowledge levels who may not even have a technical background, can be very challenging. This is where this book comes into play, teaching you in a way that isn’t overbearing how to communicate your message effectively.'
Cliff Hobbs
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Copyright Page | iv | ||
| CONTENTS | v | ||
| LIST OF FIGURES | viii | ||
| AUTHOR | ix | ||
| PREFACE | x | ||
| 1 WHAT IS TECHNICAL WRITING? | 1 | ||
| THE TECHNICAL WRITER’S TOOLKIT | 3 | ||
| THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED AS A TECHNICAL WRITER (AND NO, IT ISN’T A REALLY GOOD PEN) | 4 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 5 | ||
| 2 SEVEN STEPS TO HEAVEN: THE TECHNICAL WRITING CYCLE | 6 | ||
| 1. SPECIFICATION, AUDIENCE AND SCOPE | 6 | ||
| 2. PLANNING | 7 | ||
| 3. RESEARCH AND WRITING | 7 | ||
| 4. TESTING, REVIEWING AND REVISION | 8 | ||
| 5. DELIVERY | 8 | ||
| 6. EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK | 8 | ||
| 7. REVISION, ARCHIVING OR DESTRUCTION | 9 | ||
| TECHNICAL WRITING IN A TEAM | 9 | ||
| A QUICK WORD ABOUT WRITING APPS | 9 | ||
| A QUICK WORD ABOUT FORMATTING TEXT | 11 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 12 | ||
| 3 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE | 13 | ||
| WHO ARE YOU WRITING FOR? | 13 | ||
| PERSONAS IN TECHNICAL WRITING | 14 | ||
| WHAT DO THEY ALREADY KNOW? | 15 | ||
| WHAT DO THEY NEED TO KNOW, AND WHY? | 16 | ||
| WHERE AND WHEN DO THEY NEED TO KNOW IT? | 17 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 17 | ||
| 4 BREAK IT DOWN: THE IMPORTANCE OF A TASK-BASED APPROACH | 18 | ||
| BREAK IT DOWN (BUT NOT TOO MUCH) | 18 | ||
| THE OTHER BIG BENEFIT OF A TASK-BASED APPROACH | 20 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 21 | ||
| 5 ASSUME NOTHING | 22 | ||
| MAKING ASSUMPTIONS | 22 | ||
| ASSUMPTIONS AND ACCESSIBILITY | 23 | ||
| JUNK THE JARGON, BANISH BUZZWORDS AND ABOLISH ACRONYMS | 24 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 26 | ||
| 6 VANQUISH VAGUENESS | 27 | ||
| BE PRECISE | 27 | ||
| DON’T LEAVE WIGGLE ROOM | 28 | ||
| BE SPECIFIC | 28 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 29 | ||
| 7 DON’T BE YOURSELF | 30 | ||
| THE IMPORTANCE OF CLARITY | 30 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 31 | ||
| 8 STICK TO THE STORY | 32 | ||
| 1. LONG PARAGRAPHS | 33 | ||
| 2. DENSE BLOCKS OF TEXT | 33 | ||
| 3. IRRELEVANT OR USELESS GRAPHICS | 33 | ||
| 4. POOR PUNCTUATION | 34 | ||
| 5. TOO MUCH INFORMATION | 34 | ||
| 6. FORGETTING TO INCLUDE THE ‘HOW’ | 35 | ||
| 7. UNCLEAR NAVIGATION AIDS | 35 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 36 | ||
| 9 BE ACTIVE: WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID THE PASSIVE VOICE AND WEAK VERBS | 37 | ||
| WHY WEAK WORDS MAKE WRITING WORSE | 37 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 39 | ||
| 10 DIAGRAMS, LISTS AND GRAPHICS | 40 | ||
| LISTY BUSINESS | 40 | ||
| GO WITH THE FLOW (CHART) | 41 | ||
| OTHER KINDS OF CHARTS | 42 | ||
| KEEP AWAY FROM THE CLIPART | 45 | ||
| GOOD GRAPHICS | 46 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 46 | ||
| 11 EVERYBODY NEEDS AN EDITOR | 47 | ||
| LET GO OF YOUR EGO | 48 | ||
| WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN YOU’RE EDITING | 48 | ||
| ACCURACY | 48 | ||
| SIMPLICITY | 50 | ||
| BREVITY | 51 | ||
| EFFECTIVENESS | 51 | ||
| SHEER TEDIUM | 53 | ||
| KEY TAKEAWAYS | 54 | ||
| 12 THE TECHNICAL WRITING HOUSE OF HORRORS | 55 | ||
| WHEN COMMAS COST | 55 | ||
| THE CONVERSION THAT COST A SPACESHIP | 57 | ||
| THE ‘S’ THAT KILLED A COMPANY | 57 | ||
| WHEN XXX COSTS $$$ | 58 | ||
| THE £52 MILLION COMMA | 58 | ||
| AFTERWORD | 59 | ||
| INDEX | 60 | ||
| Back Cover | 63 |