Essentials for the Mobile Writer

For the freelance writer on the go, there are some items that are essential for what they're doing. This post looks at the gear that one writer uses when working away from the home office.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Careers>Freelance>Telecommuting>Writing

Write Everything as if Writing for the Web

Writing tightly means packing the most information into the least amount of space. It's not easy, but when you do it, the result is like magic. The key to being an effective writer is to keep what you’re writing short, to the point, and easy to read. Like the best writing on the Web.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Writing>Advice>Minimalism

Change is Gonna Come

There's a shift happening in the way in which documentation is produced. We’ve all seen the beginning of it: the growing volume of what’s called (among other things) user generated or crowdsourced documentation. That trend is growing. And while a number of people in our profession are still resistant to the idea, it’s only a matter of time before users are our main partners in creating documentation.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Social Networking

Sometimes, Simple is the Way to Go

I’m advocating boiling the documentation down to the essentials. Remove any superfluous material. Tell the user how to do things with a piece of software or a gadget, not what that something can do. You might wind up with documentation that’s just a set of procedures connected together by linking material and cross references. Don’t bog them down with what’s not necessary for them to get things done in a fast and efficient way.

Nesbitt, Scott. Communications from DMN (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Minimalism

Change Your Writing Style to Make Documentation More Usable and User-Friendly

When the subjects of usability and user friendliness in relation to documentation are broached, writing isn’t often the first thing that comes to mind. But it should be.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Usability

A Few Thoughts on Documentation for the Power User

Power user. It’s a term that I don’t like. But there definitely are people out there who are working with the software and hardware that we document who want more than just basic information. Getting them that information can be tricky.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Audience Analysis>SMEs

Form and Function, Revisited

While I'm a firm believer in the primacy of content over appearance, aesthetics are definitely a part of drawing people into documentation and engaging them. There's nothing wrong with making online assistance or a printed manual attractive. It doesn't need to be a beautifully-designed work of art, but it should be something a little more than blocks of black text on a white page.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Document Design

Keep It Simple: Streamline Your Documentation to Make it More Effective

Are we giving users the help they need, in the way they need it? Go minimal.

Nesbitt, Scott. SlideShare (2009). Presentations>Documentation>Minimalism

Listen to the Radio

Radio and documentation. It sounds like a strange, if not incompatible, mix. But as Scott Nesbitt explains, an ideal model for writing documentation is a good radio report.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Writing

Sometimes, You’ve Got to Break the Rules

In a case like this, you don’t need documentation made up of perfectly-chosen words and phrases. Instead, you need something that can be easily scanned, easily understood, and easily digested. Documentation that distills the main points quickly. Far more quickly than even the kind of minimalist documentation that I encourage can.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Rhetoric

Conversation, Cadence, and Writing 

Writing in a more conversational tone is a worthwhile goal. If you do it properly, you can draw readers in and make them more comfortable. The keys are to write as you'd speak, and to keep the flow and cadence smooth.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Writing

Writing about Open Source to Kick Start (and Sustain) Your Career 

A report of a presentation by Dru Lavigne at FSOSS 2009 that discussed how to create and sustain a writing career by writing about Open Source.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Writing>Open Source

Exporting Your Writing from Google Docs 

A short article that discusses how to use the bulk export feature of Google Docs to back your work up to your computer.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Technology>Online>Word Processing

Taking Control of Your Communication 

With mobile phones, email, instant messaging, and the like we're expected to be available at all times. It should be this way, and this article explains one path to taking control of your communication.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Advice>Time Management

Making Time to Write What You Want to Write 

Is it hard for you to find the time to write the things that you want to write? This article looks at some changes that you can make to your life in order to free up that time.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Advice>Time Management

Four Keys to Writing Quickly 

Writing quickly is a skill that you should definitely cultivate. This blog post looks at four techniques that you can use when you need to write quickly.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Writing>Advice>Workflow

LaTeX, Content, and Structure 

Structure is a key component to anything that you write. In this blog post, Scott Nesbitt discusses the importance of structure in the context of using the LaTeX typesetting language.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Writing>Information Design>LaTeX

Sometimes, You've Got to Break the Rules 

Sometimes, you don’t need documentation made up of perfectly-chosen words and phrases. Instead, you need something that can be easily scanned, easily understood, and easily digested. Documentation that distills the main points quickly.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications. Articles>TC>Style Guides>Writing

Listening: An Essential Skill for the Freelancer 

How often do you really, truly listen to what a client has to say? Probably not often enough. This post looks at why you should.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Freelance>Collaboration

What’s More Important, Content or Process? 

While style guidelines can be useful for maintaining consistency across a set (or several sets) of documentation, the editors that I worked with viewed the style guidelines as sacrosanct. Any deviation, no matter how small, was punishable by a nasty email and a sharply worded note to the offending writer’s manager.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Writing

Musings About What’s Really Important 

Technical communicators tend to get caught up in tools and techniques and formats. But, as Scott Abel said, It’s not about tech writing. It’s about content.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Technical Writing>Software