Technical Writing Archives - Page 5 of 7

Online Certificate Course in DITA: Live via GoToMeeting

ibruk Consulting Pvt Ltd is pleased to announce a new batch of its LIVE, ONLINE Certificate Course on Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). This 10-hour course will be conducted as a series of 5 X 2 hour GoToMeeting sessions on Saturdays between 10 AM and 12 PM Indian Standard Time. In addition to attending the…

Open Source Tools for Technical Writers

One of the commonly heard queries on many of the technical writing lists is a request for “free tools” that could help technical writers. Here are some open source tools that are useful for technical writers: Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations Google Docs Apache OpenOffice Help Authoring HelpMaker Screen Capture Greenshot Image Editor GIMP…

Consistency: Using Style Guides

In an earlier post, Characteristics of Effective Technical Content, we listed predictability as being one of the characteristics of effective technical content. Consistency is the key to predictability. In today’s globalised world, organizations could have multiple technical writers working different pieces of documentation. However, at the end of the day, the…

If Dr. Seuss was a technical writer….

Here is a witty ditty composed by Professor Gene Ziegler of Cornell University: Here’s an easy game to play. Here’s an easy thing to say: If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort, And the address of…

The Elements of Style – A Rap Version

Keep It Short and Simple (KISS) is an oft-heard refrain in technical writing. William Strunk, Jr. says it best in his seminal book, The Elements of Style, when he writes: Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason…

The Importance of Writing Precisely

Here is a wonderful example that illustrates why it is important to be precise! Professor Ernest Brennecke of Columbia University demonstrated how the placement of ONE WORD in a sentence can alter the meaning of the sentence completely. ONLY I hit him in the eye yesterday. (No one else did.) I ONLY…

Effective Technical Writing Skills: A Must for All Techies

The two words ‘information’ and ‘communication’ are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through. ~ Sydney J Harris The power of effective communication in helping effectiveness—personal and professional—is an established fact. In this post, we look specifically at technical writing as…

Skills Needed to be an Effective Technical Writer

Ever since we announced our technical writing course, several aspiring technical writers have written to us asking for the skills essential to be an effective technical writer. Before we discuss the skills, let us look at what a technical writer’s job is all about. A technical writer is essentially a…