Five Areas in 2012 That Technical Writers Need to Know
Tweet Technology changes every day. I was thinking about this while watching “House,” which was one of my favorite horror films as a kid, this weekend. Growing up, I didn’t have a mobile phone, and I would be in awe when I would see phones in cars. The video game consoles are not the way they were back then, and you had to hope that the Betamax or VCR taped your favorite show. This is also true of systems that businesses and...
Read MoreThe 8 Most Used Flowchart Shapes You Should Know
Tweet Flowcharts are a great way to show any type of process, organization structure, or brainstorming diagram. Shapes and arrows are used to represent a pictorial view of what you are trying to convey. I get asked all the time what each of the shapes that are used mean. I decided to describe the most-used shapes that can aid you in creating your own flowchart: - A rectangle is used to create a process step, which...
Read MoreVIDEO: Writing an Concept of Operations (CONOPS) Document
Tweet Here is a quick video on how to write a Concept of Operations (CONOPS) document. If you want to read a more detailed outlook, check out the article I posted on it. Hope you enjoy! Source: Uploaded by user via Sophie on...
Read MoreDISCUSS: A Technical Document Should Follow an Outline
Tweet “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” ~ William Shakespeare I’m the first to say to break the rules. However, there are times that you are not really breaking a rule, but creating a new one. In technical writing, there are different types of documentation that are created to support a project. These documents have a default structure that are known and accepted as...
Read MoreHow Writers Can Help Others From Wasting Paper
Tweet Offices waste a lot. You see paper being thrown out without being recycled. When you’re a technical writer, you really see a lot of that going on. I’ve had people print out unnecessary items that could have been viewed on screen. For instance, in meeting, people create agendas. Instead of emailing it around, so people get an idea about what the meeting is going to be about, they print out numerous copies that just get...
Read More10 Things I Learned By Judging a Writing Competition
Tweet I’ve judged two STC Technical Communication Competitions. Unfortunately, I had to pass on judging this year because I’m extremely busy with a few projects. If you haven’t heard of the competition before, it is where different organizations and government agencies submit their best documentation to be judged. There are three different awards: Distinguished, Excellence, and Merit. The pieces of work awarded “Distinguished”...
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