Posts Tagged ‘Technical Writing’
When to Use Jargon in a Technical Document?
Introduction As a technical writer you’ve heard this piece of sage writing advice a thousand times: you should stay away from jargon and write as you speak. It’s basic. Strunk & White said so, didn’t they? It’s true. But is this rule true ALL the time, unconditionally? No, I’m afraid it is not. Life has…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – How to Edit a Technical Document?
Imagine you’re a technical writer looking over my shoulder as I’m editing a technical manual. This is how I’d do it: ORIGINAL: “Logging in involves the Operator typing in his User ID and Password.”BETTER: “To log in, the Operator must enter a valid User ID and Password.” ORIGINAL: “The operator’s assigned authorities for operating, configuring…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – How to Use the Bulleted Lists Properly in Your Technical Document
© Ugur Akinci Bulleted lists are important in technical writing. They summarize information in a manner that is easy to read and absorb. Use them whenever you can to get your information across quickly. Bullets are ideal for things-to-do, equipment, sets, collections, cooking ingredients, and all kinds of other lists. Compare: “In winter months make…
Read MoreHow to Improve Your Technical Copy by Editing "Trash Can Sentences"
You can improve your technical copy instantly by staying away from sentences with a long RANDOM list of objects. I call them “trash can sentences.” Here is a technical copy example: “The Committee will meet Thursday morning to discuss building permits, hiring practices, derivatives trading, inventory, Thanksgiving recess, product modeling, labor issues, Caribbean resorts, IPO…
Read MoreTechnical Documentation of "Quality Management" Projects
© Ugur Akinci “Quality Management” is yet one of the many employment opportunities available for technical writers today. If you have not heard of QM before, here is a great blog entry by Irv Boichuk explaining the concept and how it relates to technical writing very well: A technical writer is indeed an excellent person…
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How to Write a Great Index for your Technical Document
Introduction An index, as we covered in our pillar post on indexing, is a list of terms in your technical document that points to the location of the term within the document. In a printed book, an index typically appears on a separate page, often near the end. It is an alphabetical list of words…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – What Does it Take to Become a Technical Writer?
For one thing, you really do not need to be an artistically creative person to become a technical writer. Forget about plot, dialog, character, original concept, etc. Actually someone quipped “if it ain’t boring then it ain’t tech writing.” That’s harsh but there is some truth in it too. Technical writing is certainly not about…
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Technical Writing – 4 Ideas to Organize Your Technical Document Images and Screen Shots
Introduction Most technical writers would include at least a few images to illustrate a point, or screenshots 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, and importing them can quickly become a logistical nightmare,…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – Make $62,780 a Year as a Technical Communicator
© Ugur Akinci I did not make up the annual income figure in the headline. That is the Average Annual Wage earned by technical communicators across the United States in 2007 according to the “2007 Technical Communicator Salary Survey” conducted by Society for Technical Communication. For example, in California, technical writers made as low as…
Read MoreTechnical Writing – VAED Method to Document a GUI Element
In database applications, CRUD is an important principle to observe. It is an acronym that stands for: Create (C) [i.e., connect to] database Read (R) database Use (U) data Destroy (D) [i.e., disconnect from] database When documenting the features of a GUI (Graphic User Interface), there is a similar ACRONYM that can help you create…
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