Technical Writing 101: A Real-World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Documentation,9780970473325

Technical Writing 101: A Real-World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Documentation

by ;
Edition: 3rd
ISBN13: 9780970473325
ISBN10: 097047332X
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2003-08-01
Publisher(s): Scriptorium Pub Services Inc
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Table of Contents

Preface 15(1)
What's in this book
15(6)
So, what's a technical writer?
21(10)
Knowledge of technology
22(3)
Ignorance is bliss
24(1)
Who treats the doctor and who documents for the writer?
25(1)
Writing ability
25(3)
Miss Thistlebottom was right...
26(2)
Organizational skills
28(2)
Strong detective (and people) skills
30(1)
An overview of the technical writing process
31(4)
Very necessary evils--doc plans and outlines
35(12)
What's a doc plan?
36(6)
Who writes the doc plan?
39(1)
Any formulas for writing doc plans?
40(2)
Outlining--it's not just for high school papers anymore
42(5)
What goes into the outline?
42(2)
How many deliverables should there be?
44(1)
Writing the outline
45(2)
The Tech Writer's Toolbox
47(12)
Content/text development tools
48(2)
Graphics software and clip art packages
50(2)
Help or web authoring tools
52(1)
File conversion utilities
53(1)
Other helpful software
54(1)
Computers and ergonomics
55(4)
Getting information
59(16)
Technical specifications and other development documentation
60(2)
The benefits of a spec
60(1)
The drawbacks of a spec
61(1)
Prototypes and software under development
62(4)
The benefits of prototypes and prerelease software
64(1)
The drawbacks of prototypes and prerelease software
65(1)
Legacy documentation
66(2)
The benefits of legacy documentation
67(1)
The drawbacks of legacy documentation
67(1)
Developers and subject matter experts
68(5)
The benefits of developers and SMEs
68(1)
The drawbacks of developers and SMEs
69(4)
Interviews with users
73(2)
The benefits of interviews with users
73(1)
The drawbacks of interviews with users
73(2)
Finally--it's time to start writing
75(16)
Audience, audience, audience
76(7)
K.I.S.S.
78(1)
Inclusive language
79(1)
Analyzing your audience without spending a fortune
80(3)
Style and terminology
83(1)
Different types of content
83(5)
Interface information
84(2)
Reference information
86(1)
Conceptual information
87(1)
Procedural information
88(1)
Dealing with the inevitable schedule changes
88(1)
Experience is the best teacher
89(2)
Writing task-oriented information
91(14)
Elements of a procedure
92(2)
Introducing the procedure
94(1)
Breaking down a task into steps
94(1)
Including the results
95(2)
Adding notes, warnings, and cautions
97(2)
Using bulleted and numbered lists
99(1)
Letting illustrations tell the story
100(1)
Organizing information in tables
101(1)
Inserting cross-references
102(3)
A few words about pictures
105(16)
What sort of graphic should I use?
106(1)
Understanding graphic file types
107(5)
Vector images
107(2)
Bitmap images
109(1)
File formats
110(2)
Scope of an illustration
112(2)
Displaying information from your computer screen
114(2)
Mac screen shots
114(1)
Windows screen shots
115(1)
Placing graphics in your documents
116(3)
Linking vs. embedding graphics
116(1)
Keeping graphics uniform in size
117(2)
Hey, I'm a writer, not an artist!
119(2)
Editors--resistance is futile
121(18)
Preventive measures--an editor's early involvement in a project
123(3)
Reviewing doc plans and manual outlines
123(1)
Establishing style guidelines
124(1)
Deciding on terminology
125(1)
Examining legacy documentation
126(1)
Editing early chapters
126(1)
Copy editing vs. technical editing vs. production editing
126(2)
Editing the documentation--what you and the editor can expect
128(5)
What an editor can expect from you
128(2)
What you can expect from an editor
130(3)
Editorial checklists
133(1)
Working with a markup
134(1)
The reality of time constraints
135(4)
Indexing
139(14)
What should I index?
141(4)
Indexing definitions
143(1)
Indexing tasks
144(1)
Cross-indexing
145(1)
Using primary and secondary entries
146(1)
``See'' and ``See also'' entries
147(1)
How long should my index be?
148(1)
Editing your index
148(3)
Some helpful tips
151(2)
Final preparation--production editing
153(14)
What the production editor expects from you
155(1)
What to expect from a production editor
156(1)
The production edit
156(8)
Hyphenation and bad line breaks
157(1)
Page breaks and copyfitting
158(2)
Widows and orphans
160(1)
Right/left pagination
161(1)
Running headers, running footers, and pagination
162(1)
Consistency in presentation of tables and figures
163(1)
Page numbers in cross-references
163(1)
Production checklists
164(1)
Preparing final output
165(2)
Avoiding international irritation
167(22)
Some basic definitions
168(1)
Did we mention audience?
169(7)
Language is an eight-letter word
170(2)
More on mores
172(1)
Some common-sense rules for international writing
172(4)
The myth about images
176(3)
Much ado about taboo
177(1)
Screening your graphics
178(1)
Designs that won't hurt you
179(8)
Text expansion
179(3)
Other problems with tables
182(3)
Other issues
185(2)
Think globally, act locally
187(2)
Single sourcing
189(24)
The traditional workflow
190(3)
Parallel development
191(1)
Serial development
191(2)
Evaluating whether single sourcing is right for a project
193(1)
Benefits of single sourcing
193(3)
Reducing time to market
194(1)
Minimizing errors and inconsistencies
194(1)
Saving money
195(1)
Presenting information customized for each delivery medium
195(1)
Objections to single sourcing
196(1)
Planning for single sourcing
197(5)
Considerations for creating multiple versions of a document
198(1)
Considerations for creating multiple output types
199(3)
Choosing single-sourcing tools
202(11)
Considerations for creating multiple versions of a document
202(3)
Considerations for creating multiple outputs from one document
205(8)
Structured authoring with XML--the next big thing
213(14)
What is structured authoring?
214(4)
Elements and hierarchy
215(2)
Element attributes
217(1)
Formatting structured documents
218(1)
What is XML?
218(5)
XML syntax
219(3)
Defining structure in XML
222(1)
The impact of structured authoring and XML on writers
223(2)
Does structured authoring work with single sourcing?
225(2)
Appendix A: Getting your first job as a technical writer
227(20)
Demonstrating the skills of a technical writer
228(8)
Understanding of technology
229(4)
Writing ability
233(2)
Organizational skills
235(1)
Detective and people skills
235(1)
Interviewing
236(3)
Dress professionally
236(1)
Don't oversell
237(1)
Don't ask about salary
237(1)
Be on time
238(1)
Send a thank-you note
238(1)
The portfolio
239(2)
What should my portfolio look like?
240(1)
Should I bring my portfolio to the interview?
241(1)
Where should I look for a tech writing job?
241(4)
Contracting--getting your foot in the door
242(1)
Transferring within a company
243(1)
The end run into technical writing
243(1)
Start-up companies
243(1)
If you've got it, flaunt it
244(1)
Internships
244(1)
Professional organizations
245(1)
Working as a freelance technical writer
245(2)
What you need to make it as a freelancer
245(1)
How much experience do I need to begin freelancing?
246(1)
Appendix B: Resources
247(12)
General technical writing
248(1)
Print
248(1)
Mailing lists
248(1)
Editorial
249(1)
Print
249(1)
Web sites
249(1)
Audience and task analysis
250(1)
Information design
250(1)
Indexing
250(1)
Management
250(1)
Print
250(1)
Mailing list
251(1)
Single sourcing
251(1)
FrameMaker
251(2)
Print
251(1)
Web sites
251(1)
Mailing lists
252(1)
Other tools and technologies
253(2)
Web sites
253(1)
Mailing lists
254(1)
Professional organizations
255(1)
Ergonomics
256(1)
Job banks
256(3)
Appendix C: Tools information
259(4)
Free email providers
262(1)
Appendix D: Sample doc plan
263(8)
Index 271

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