Activity

Take some tips from technical writing that will make your ideas clear and persuasive in the new reading environment of the net.

Print media puts the reader in the passenger’s seat. What if you do not want a character to die? What if you don’t just like the direction the story has taken? Traditional reading is linear–you start at chapter one and you also go to the end, without detours in between.

Instruction manuals have always been different. Who reads instruction manuals from starting to end? Instead you dip involved with it, try something, and when that doesn’t seem to work, flip several pages backward or forward and try again.

Now the internet has turned into a huge manual where in fact the reader can maneuver around at will–technology has stolen authorial control. You will need to expect your readers to jump around. To be successful, whatever you write for the net has to follow exactly the same three rules that technical writers use:

Write in Chunks

Readers pick and choose. Recognize that your audience isn’t expecting a story–they have specific goals. Points have to be self-contained and clearly marked to help them find what they’re searching for and move ahead. write for us technology –don’t make them eat the sundae when all they need is the cherry.

Follow a Structure

You can structure your content by category, rank, location–but there has to be a structure. By organizing your details you’re giving your reader an instrument that lets them find what they’re searching for and skip what they don’t need. If you can’t find a structure that works, it is advisable to define your points more clearly.

Connect it Together

You can’t force your reader to follow the path you’ve set for them, but you can give them usage of information that supports your message. Don’t be afraid to link, both to resources outside your document and to pages in it. Your role is to help them achieve their goals; point them towards resources that help them do this.

Like technical writing, the internet is about helping people find information. Adopt a few of the principals of technical writing is likely to work to create it get results.