Writing Process

Understanding Project

The first step in writing any document is to understand the substantive content. This can involve reading material, interviewing persons involved with the project, accessing online resources, and actually using products that are being described (e.g., a software program or a piece of equipment). We have experience writing for science and technology, engineering, programming, business, and many other disciplines. This background positions us to learn many topics well enough to write about them.

Gathering Information

As resource materials are gathered and digested, we begin to develop a basic outline. The objective of this preliminary outline is to define the document scope, to limit its content, and to include all major topics covered. For instance, an instrument user manual might contain major sections concerning parts descriptions, installation and configuration, instruction for operation, use in various applications, and troubleshooting. Additionally, the document could contain a glossary, a reference section, and an index. It is important to give thought to the organization of these major divisions.

Selecting Audience

Before initiating sentence writing, we identify the reader audience. This determines a level of assumed knowledge on the part of readers. Often a reader audience includes persons ranging in competency, from highly adept to totally naive. For user manuals in software upgrades, identifying an assumed level of knowledge on the part of the readership can be especially problematic. Usually we recommend writing for the least-well-informed, with the negative consequence of boring somewhat those readers who already know much of the information being presented. After identifying a reader audience, we decide on an appropriate language and style. A document can be written in a familiar style, often using the second person. ("You will find ... ," "You can do this by ... ." ) Contractions ("I'd," "you'd," "don't," "can't") are frequently found in the familiar style of writing. Documents written in the familiar style tend to be reader-friendly. A more formal and drier style is usually required in scientific, engineering, and technological writing for journal publication.

Approving Format

Once the reader audience has been identified and a style has been chosen, we select a format appropriate for the document. Standard format consists of chapters, headers, and paragraphs and a template created in MS Word. This method and format of writing is especially suitable for user manuals and instructional material.

Developing TOC

The next step is to develop and expand the outline to include all subdivisions. These subdivisions must fall into a consistent hierarchy. We use the outline utility in MS Word for this level of development; it facilitates maintaining consistency and nicely displays the information hierarchy as it develops. A fully developed outline contains all information to be presented in the document and only lacks sentence structure.

Completing First Draft

Once a style and format have been selected and TOC has been agreed upon, we construct a draft following the fully developed outline. If the outline was developed properly, completing a draft should be fairly straightforward.

Reviews and Final Document

From the draft, it is important to start a review-and-edit process. Several edits may be required to bring the material to a finished, polished form. A final review should involve outside readers.

Graphics

I have equipment, software and knowledge for adding to text appropriate, complementary graphics (scanned images, CAD drawings, business charts, etcetera). The inclusion of graphics to all-text documents usually makes the documents more attractive and engaging to readers, even when the graphics are nonessential. Examples of essential graphics are floor plans, diagrams of instrumentation control panels, screen captures of software menus, and charts of statistical data. A writer can replace these essential graphics only with volumes of text, and in that voluminous form the text becomes ineffective. I can also record digital audio files and include them in your online, multimedia presentations.