Books
Expository Writing vs. Technical Writing – What is the Difference?
There are important differences between expository and technical writing. What is Expository Writing? Expository writing is the process of explaining, describing, or clarifying. It can be done in a number of ways and is not limited to just one form. This type of writing is not just about giving information, but also about persuading readers…
Read MoreBOOK REVIEW: “Design for How People Learn” by Julie Dirksen
“Design for How People Learn” by Julie Dirksen is a “heavy” book, both literally (top-quality paper) and figuratively. It’s an important reference work that I think all trainers, instructors, and e-learning designers should read. We are lucky to have today e-learning tools like Adobe Captivate and others. Setting up slides, quizzes, links, buttons, voiceovers, inserting images,…
Read More5 Methods to Finish What You’ve Started to Write
(Copyright-free photo courtesy of unsplash-dot-com) © Ugur Akinci Finishing an article, a book or a presentation is as important as starting to write it. The enemies of half-finished writing projects are many. So are your “friends”. Here are five time-tested ideas to finish all your writing projects on time and in good shape. 1)…
Read MoreTechnical Book Review: “Writing Plain Instructions” by Marc Achtelig
“Writing Plain Instructions,” with the subtitle “How to write user manuals, online help, and other forms of user assistance that every user understands” by Marc Achtelig is a great addition to the existing literature on technical writing. Marc, a veteran technical communicator from Germany with two engineering degrees, is a detail-oriented author who covers his topic at…
Read MoreBOOK REVIEW: Microsoft Manual of Style – 4th Edition is Out
Here is the 4th edition of a favorite of mine – Microsoft Manual of Style. I forgot the number of times in my career when this authoritative reference volume helped me settle the style arguments that would never have been settled otherwise. The fourth edition is a proof that Microsoft kept up well with the…
Read MoreBOOK REVIEW: Excellent Project Guide for Commercial Designers and Technical Illustrators who Draw Graphs
© Ugur Akinci If you’re a beginner or amateur illustrator or designer Adobe Illustrator CS2 @work: Projects You Can Use on the Job is not for you since it does not address the nuts-and-bolts aspects of Adobe Illustrator. This how-to volume assumes that you already know the basics of using the Illustrator. What the author…
Read More
How to Insert a Placeholder to a MS Word Document for a Book or Article Citation
Introduction Insert a placeholder to an MS Word document when, while working on the document, you would not have the citations at your fingertips. Problem Yet if you stop to make a search for the citations you may lose your rhythm and momentum. Solution So it makes sense to keep going full-steam ahead and to…
Read MoreEbook Self-Publishing Alternatives: Amazon Kindle, Moodle, Tizra
Every week I hear about yet another self-publishing alternative platform. Today I had the chance to have a look at Tizra.com and wanted to compare it to Kindle and Moodle, two of my favorite publishing platforms. KINDLE (http://kdp.amazon.com/) The advantage of Kindle is obvious: where else can you expose your content to millions of daily…
Read More4 Book Components to Disappear from Technical Documents in the Long Run
Here are four book components that I think we won’t come across too frequently in the future when we read a single-sourced technical document: 1) Headers and Footers 2) Chapters 3) Page Numbers 4) TOC Headers and footers have been inseparable components of the traditional book metaphor, the “codex” as it’s also known, for over…
Read MoreTechnical Book Review: THE STATE OF STRUCTURED AUTHORING by Alan S. Pringle and Sarah S. O’Keefe
“Structured authoring” and “single sourcing” have been hot buzz phrases for quite a few years now. If you’re a technical writer, I’m sure you’re either applying these documentation methods in your daily work, getting ready to implement them, or learning about them. I personally am in the last two categories, both still learning ins and…
Read More