Posts by Ugur Akinci
TCC Honored as MindTouch's "Top 10 Most Followed" Web Site
© Ugur Akinci I’m happy to report that, thanks to you TCC readers, our Twitter account @technicalwriter has been selected by MindTouch as one of the “Top 10 Most Followed” technical communication accounts on Twitter. To be included in such a distinguished list of industry pioneers and leaders is a great honor indeed. I’d like to…
Read More2 Golden Principles of Technical Document Peer Review
There will be instances in your career as a professional writer when you will be asked to “peer review” (which is, yes, a compound “verb” these days) someone else’s work. This may happen in group meeting (or teleconference/webinar) situations when you may be invited to offer you views on how to improve a certain copy…
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4 Ideas to Organize Technical Document Images
Introduction Organizing technical document images is easier said than done. Most technical documents would have at least a few images to illustrate a point, or screen-shots that accompany the description of a certain step-by-step procedure, etc. Organizing such images can really become a problem, especially when you have dozens and hundreds of them. Finding, editing,…
Read MoreMS Word Shortcuts to Boost Your Productivity
Are you using MS Word Shortcuts? Across the world every day, millions of writers select, copy and paste words as a regular part of their work. Here are some MS Word short cuts to increase your productivity: To select a SINGLE WORD: double-click on it. To select the WHOLE PARAGRAPH that a word is in:…
Read MoreWhat Does a Technical Writer Working for the U.S. Government Look Like?
Let’s start by asking the question — what does a “typical” technical writer who is employed by Uncle Sam really look like? Technical writers are sometimes called “technical communicators” because in reality that’s what they do – they communicate. Writing is just one of the several tools that they use to do that. Those writers…
Read MoreThe Discipline of Punctuation in Technical Writing
© Ugur Akinci Today let’s talk about the discipline of punctuation Technical writing is nothing if it’s not about discipline, precision and consistency. That’s how tech writers impose order on disorder. One of the most basic we impose that order on an otherwise unruly collection of information is the application of stringent punctuation rules. When…
Read More2 File-Naming Tips for Higher Productivity
Every technical writer at some point in his or her career faces this problem until a solution is found: too many files thrown together in a folder, without any easy way to tell which is what. Here are some of my own file naming tips that have helped me a lot over the years. File…
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7 Tips to Write Effective Technical Magazine Articles
Introduction Writing effective technical magazine articles could be great to heighten your visibility as a technical writer. There are many respectable industry magazines and journals like STC’s INTERCOM where you can try to publish your articles both to share your valuable knowledge with the vast technical writing community out there and to market your services…
Read MoreMust Concepts for Software Document Writers
© Ugur Akinci It helps to know what the following are if you’re documenting any software products. It cuts down on your preparation time and saves you from getting those “funny stares” from the developers/engineers when it becomes apparent that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Rule of thumb: always do your homework first…
Read More3 Tips for Writing 10-K Annual Reports for U.S. Corporations
Writing Form 10-K Annual Reports is a lucrative niche that you should consider if you have a finance or investment background or feel comfortable with terminology of economics. Here is a great web site where you can go and take a look at hundreds of annual reports filed each year by U.S. SEC (Securities and…
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