Thursday, June 2, 2011

technical writing

Today we will start working with technical writing:

a form of technical communication, is a style of formal writing used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. Technical writers explain technology and related ideas to technical and nontechnical audiences. This could mean, for example, telling a programmer how to use a software library or telling a consumer how to operate a television remote control.

We will be using technical writing to create a "how to" guide. This can be done in many ways but must meet the following requirements:

  • 9+ steps
  • image and explanation for each step
  • details into areas of confusion or potential mistakes
  • built using InDesign or blogger
images can be screen shots or pictures you take

blurbs should be a couple complete sentences per image.

think about tutorials you have had success with and those which have not worked as well... model your "how to" after the good ones!

a few examples:

http://homemadewithlove.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/how-to-make-moist-yummy-banana-bread-a-tutorial/

http://homesteadheritage-pottery.com/wheel.html

http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/ss/golf_setup.htm


Tools to use:
  • InDesign
  • Blogger
  • Photoshop
  • other ideas?

No comments:

Post a Comment