Writing Technical Documents Step by Step

Welcome back all! Today we will be talking about the steps in writing a technical document. Blah, I know, but I will try to keep this as energetic as possible!

Let's say we are creating a brochure that persuades pregnant women to eat healthily. There are 5 important steps we must follow in order to create a successful document. These steps include:

1. Planning
2. Drafting
3. Revising 
4. Editing
5. Proofreading

It is important to note that these steps are not in chronological order. Think in terms of this scenario: we create a meal plan for a professional athlete. We later come to find out that our athlete is allergic to gluten, and we have whole wheat toast listed as a part of their breakfast.

What do we do next? We must go back to our meal plan and revise it, then proofread it, and then send it off to our peer to revise and edit themselves. Challenges get thrown into the mix more times than not and we must be prepared to work forward and backward to find their solutions!

5 Steps Broken Down

Planning

               When planning to write a technical document, we must take into consideration who we are writing to, what their expectations are, and what the document is being used for.

If we were to make a brochure promoting healthy eating in pregnant women, our brochure must personally resonate with them and persuade them to make good choices. We might add a picture of a celebrity promoting healthy eating while pregnant to increase the likelihood of our patients eating healthy.

When planning, we must address what the purpose of this brochure is: to inform, to persuade, to argue? Or all 3? In our case, it would be to persuade the pregnant woman to eat healthy by using a third-party tool. Determining our purpose for writing the document will set its tone and formality.

Two of the most important things that must be considered when planning to write a technical document: time and money. As dietitians, we must consider how much time we have to create this brochure and brainstorm who we can collaborate with. We must also consider what our budget is and ensure that we do not exceed that value.

One of the most obvious factors in writing a technical document are the tools needed. What software are we going to use to create this brochure? We must choose whichever software we think will be most effective for the piece of writing. In this case, I think that google docs would be the most suitable for a brochure because of how many features it has.

Drafting

               When writing a brochure, we must first make an outline. I believe that a handwritten outline for a brochure is better suited because it can allow us to layout a trifold on a piece of paper and organize our information in that manner.

If we are using a template, we must make sure that we recreate the information in a way that is attention-grabbing for our pregnant mothers (a colorful, happy theme) so that they don’t get bored reading it. In terms of any technical communication, we should also be sure to pick a style of writing that will fit our audience.

If the brochure is formal and for professionals, we would make sure the format and style of writing are mature and professional. If we are creating a brochure for pregnant mothers, the style of writing should be cute and quirky. After all, they ARE having a baby!

Revising

               When revising, we should be thinking about if our draft fits our audience, purpose, and subject. Does our brochure really address pregnant women? Is our purpose to persuade them about healthy eating precise? Is there any new evidence about healthy eating for pregnant women that we should incorporate?

               As simple as this sounds, a major step in revising your own draft is to read and reread your work. You’re more likely to pick up on spelling and grammatic errors. After rereading, identify the major ideas you want to portray and make sure those are the focus points of the brochure.

               Peer editing has always been one of my favorite revising techniques growing up. I always loved hearing others’ feedback about my writing. Everyone brings different perspectives to the table and it can be super interesting to comprehend the way others interpret your writing. As dietitians, we can share our drafts with other experts (in this case, other dietitians or an obstetrician) to ensure that our information is accurate and relevant to our purpose.

Editing

               Editing a draft includes fixing grammar, punctuation, spelling, style, diction, and mechanics. These key factors are important because it makes us as dietitians look professional and trustworthy. Since we will be the ones doing most of the editing on our own brochure, some questions we can ask ourselves are:

·        Are all paragraphs well developed?
·        Are all sentences clear and correct?
·        Are all the elements presented consistently?
·        Is the design effective?
·        Are graphics used appropriately?

The type of document will determine how nit-picky we must be with the editing process, but no matter what document we are writing, always make sure that professionalism is included (yes guys, that includes e-mails too).

Proofreading

               Proofreading is vital when it comes to writing technical documents. On our brochure, our sentences should flow, with no missing words or phrases. Reading aloud is one of the best strategies for proofreading since you can determine an error right then and there.

Although this post was rather lengthy, this portion of information was super important to relay to you guys. Thanks for tuning in! Talk with you all next week!

Yours Truly,

#sharingwithshar