Planning your technical writing project

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Planning your technical writing project

Posted By: vikram kuamr | Posted On: 2008-08-26 | Article ID: 88527

It is useful to follow a set process when producing documentation. Having a process in place helps make sure that you thoroughly understand the requirements of the writing project before you begin. This will help to reduce the need for rewriting and adding information later in the process. The first step in the writing process is to create a plan for the documentation you are about to write. To do this you should answer the following questions on the document:

What type of document is it?
What is the purpose of the document?
What key information should you cover?
Who will read the document?
How much do the readers know about the subject?
What style should use when writing the document?

What type of document is it?

There are a wide variety of technical documents and each document type will have a specific format. For example, a user guide provides instructions for using a product. So this type of document is written around tasks that you would want the user to be able to perform. Where as a report or case study also have their own specific format.

What is the purpose of the document?

The answer to this question helps guide your writing. By having a clear purpose in mind it can help make your writing more targeted towards the topic and mean you are less likely to add redundant information that does not help towards achieving the purpose.

What key information should you cover?

The answer to this question will guide your in the content to include when writing the document. For example, creating a user guide involves producing a list of tasks that you would want the user to be able to perform after reading the guide. When writing a report this will be the key pieces of information that your report will cover. At this stage you want to be brief when outlining the key information, don't get bogged down by putting in too much detail.

Who will read the document?

This is the where you look at who will read your documentation. If your documentation has multiple audiences this can affect how you write and how you structure the documentation. For example, a user guide may have two audiences, administrators and users. Each audience may need to be able to perform different tasks, so a good way to structure the guide might be to have a separate section for each audience or even separate documents.

How much do the readers know about the subject?

Assess how much your readers know about the subject. This will help guide you on how much information you need to include. For example, if you are writing a guide for system administrators to use to install a new piece of software you can assume they have a good knowledge of computing systems and you will only need to go into detail where the information is specific to the product that you are writing about. It is important to pitch your document at the right level for the audience so they will get the most out of it.
What format

What style should use when writing the document?

The style that you use when writing the documentation has an immense effect on how easy the documentation is to understand. It is important to find out if there is a style guide that you should be following. This will help ensure that you use terms consistently across an organization. In addition, it is important to make your document easy to understand. This can be done by using word with a clear meaning and avoiding ambiguity. Keep your writing concise and avoid wordiness. For example, instead of writing ‘due to the fact that’ use ‘because’. Segment information into tables and lists where appropriate. Stick to plain English and only use technical terms where you have to. Use active voice as this will make your writing tighter and improve the readability of the document. For example,

Passive - A recommendation was made by inspectors that consideration should be given by the company to installing a backup system on all computers to prevent users losing their work.

Active - Inspectors recommended that the company consider installing a backup system on all computers to prevent users losing their work.

Article Source: http://www.articlecell.com

About The Author
vikram kuamr
If you are searching for a technical author or technical writers who offer service such as writing user guides, technical manuals, business processes or training material, then check out Your Virtual Team.

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