RE: Help on Procedure Writing
AnilaA -at- ibsplc -dot- com [mailto:AnilaA -at- ibsplc -dot- com] asked for Help on Procedure
Writing"
"I am new to the field of Tech Writing. A graduate in English
literature, I have no background whatsoever in tech writing or in any of the
tools/technologies I see mentioned in most of the messages posted here --
except for MS Word, MS Excel and to a certain extent Framemaker
"I am in need of information on the following topics:
Writing User Manuals
Writing Online Help
"By this I mean the the language, style and format to be used in this kind
of procedure writing. My company does not require me to work with the
different help technologies as of yet. At present I am concerned basically
with the language part of it.
"Please do let me know where to go for this kind of information."
One publication out there you may find useful for procedure writing is "DOE Statndard Writer's Guide for Technical Procedures (DOE-STD-1092-92)". It's produced by the US Department of Energy and may be available on their web site.
While not the most recent publication on the planet, it is the most extensive one I have ever come across on the subject. (Wish I could remember the name of the person on this list-serve who originally tipped us off on the existence of this publication.)
As a personal observation of procedure writing, when writing a procedure, make sure you include all the relevant information needed by a person to complete the task. You will need to emphaisize the what rather than the why.
Put a couple of lines at the beginning of the procedure to put the procedure in context.
Include a note under a step if there is additional information that clarifies a step.
Here's a simple example.
"Customers are billed on the fifteenth and last day of each month. Bills must be ready for pickup by 4:00 P.M. on those days."
1. Get bills from the printer.
*The billing software will print the bills
the night before.
2. Get sufficient windowed envelopes from the stationary room.
3. Fold the bills.
* There is a paper folding machine for this task.
4. Intsert bills in envelopes.
* Customer address must appear in envelope window.
5. Insert additional mailings in envelope, if required
* "Marketing" and "Customer Service" will send these
out with bills from time to time. Any additional
mailings will be given to you the day before.
6. Seal the envelopes.
7. Place envelopes in outgoing mail hopper for pick-up.
Hope this helps.
John Fleming
Technical Writer
Edmonton, Alberta
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