Sunday, November 13, 2011

Planning your work


In chapter four of Technical Communication, there are some very useful hints to help you write just a little bit better.  There is a simple three step process to follow when you begin to write.  The first step is to identify the information your readers want.  In this step you want to keep in mind that readers can't use what isn't there.  In order to figure this out you must go beyond and find answers to the questions that you think your reader will ask.  The second step is to organize around your readers' tasks.  This means you should make it to where your readers will find it easy to use.  There are three simple things to keep in mind when doing this, the first is, organize hierarchically, then group items that your users will use together, and give the bottom line first.  Identifying a way to help readers quickly find what they want is the third step.  One thing to keep in mind is that reports generally have two parts they are, a very brief summary, and then the body of the report.  If you can keep these three steps in mind it will help you to become a better writer. 

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