A Group Exercise to Teach Technical Writing
How would you teach technical writing to a group of aspiring writers who do not have a hi-tech background? Can you teach instructional and procedural writing even when the topic is, say, how to pack your suitcase before you board a plane? AMANDA CHRISTY BROWN and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO did exactly that in this New…
Read MoreTCP/IP Concepts You Should Learn to Write Networking Documentation
TCP/IP is the most widely used networking protocol available today. All Internet traffic and countless private networks, systems and gadgets today rely on TCP/IP to send and receive data and operate properly. As a technical writer you’d be expanding your job prospects if you’re familiar with TCP/IP and how networked computers exchange data. Here are…
Read MoreSome Useful Adobe FrameMaker Spacing Shortcuts
Em Space — Esc + SpaceBar + m En Space — Esc + SpaceBar + n Numeric Space — Esc + SpaceBar + 1 (this equals the width of number Zero in that font) Thin Space — Esc + SpaceBar + t (this equals 1/12th of the width of Em Space in that font) Nonbreaking…
Read MoreTechnical Book Review — "Creating Technical Manuals: A Step-by-Step Approach to Writing User-Friendly Instructions"
© 2010 Ugur Akinci Creating Technical Manuals: A Step-By-Step Approach to Writing User-Friendly Instructions by Gerald Cohen and Donald H. Cunningham was printed back in 1984. So like most pre-Internet era technical books, it’s outdated in terms of visual content. Its page layout suggestions, for example, shows how rapidly the technical communication field has developed…
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