Writing Processes

Our Writing Guides help you locate information quickly on specific topics. These guides focus on a range of composing processes as well as issues related to the situations in which writers find themselves.

Colorado State University. Articles>Style Guides>Writing>Rhetoric

Review: You Send Me: Getting It Right When You Write Online  

This book addresses the issues of online writing and particularly writing e-mail, which should concern all us who spend a good chunk of our days in front of a computer screen creating and replying to e-mail messages. The book is structured in three parts: 'The virtual mensch,' 'Alpha mail,' and 'Words of passage.'

Crawley, Charles R. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides>Email

One Space Or Two Spaces?

When I began writing technical documentation and courseware for Guru Labs, I asked a question during training about whether we should be putting two spaces after a period, colon, question mark and exclamation point, or one. The answer shocked me, as I was hoping for the standard answer as a means of teaching the rest of my colleagues. The answer was ONE space, not two. Then, I listened to the argument.

Toponce, Aaron. Aaron Toponce (2008). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Grammar

Review: The Global English Style Guide: A Review

Many good style guides exist. Why do technical writers need another style guide? Unlike other style guides, this book covers grammatical structures, not only particular terms. The book has more than 200 pages of text (plus 4 appendices) that give detailed explanations of both good practice and bad practice.

Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2008). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides>Globalization

How to Use the Bulleted Lists Properly in Your Technical Document?

Bulleted lists are important in technical writing. They summarize information in a manner that is easy to read and absorb. Use them whenever you can to get your information across quickly. Bullets are ideal for things-to-do, equipment, sets, collections, cooking ingredients, and all kinds of other lists.

Akinci, Ugur. Technical Communication Center (2009). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides>Technical Writing

Do I Really Need a Style Guide?

So, after all, I must follow those infernal style guides. I am straight-jacketed. Am I not?

Palagummi, Sharada. Indus (2009). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Writing

A Web Policy is a Policy, Not a Standard

I've noticed recently that people (and organizations) often interchange the policies and standards labels as if there is no difference between them... like those who insist the Web and the Internet are the same. I'm not one for splitting hairs, but in this case, policies are truly not the same as standards and it's important to be clear about the distinction.

Koniezeski, Delia. WelchmanPierpoint (2009). Articles>Web Design>Style Guides>Policies and Procedures

Review: The Global English Style Guide

A review of "The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Market" by John R. Kohl.

Wenger, Andrea. Carolina Communiqué (2009). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides

The Missing Manual Authors’ Guide  

This Authors’ Guide tells you everything you need to know to write Missing Manual. It starts out by giving you a brief introduction to the Missing Manual way of explaining things and then takes you through the nitty gritty of style guidelines, figure formatting, and so on.

Missing Manuals (2009). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides>Technical Writing

Do I Really Need a Style Guide?

Style guides recommend certain styles. In the domain of technical communication, we refer to guides for writing style, presentation of content in user documentation and technical documents, and graphical user interface of software and web sites.

Palagummi, Sharada. Indus (2009). Articles>Style Guides>Editing>Writing

Style Rules for Job Position Names and Titles in Policies & Procedures

Have you struggled with job position names and titles in your policies and procedures (P&P) content? Here are several style rules to follow.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2009). Articles>Style Guides>Policies and Procedures>Organizational Communication

Style Manuals: The Politics of Selection    

Bette Frick and Betsy Frick discuss how a style manual can save time and money, how to select the proper style manual and get buy-in, and how to create a style guide to use in conjunction with a style manual.

Frick, Elizabeth G.'Bette' and Elizabeth A. 'Betsy' Frick. Intercom (2009). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Standards

Consistency and Community-Generated Content

I’ve been collecting examples of wildly inconsistent writing lately. I’m not sure why these have stuck out to me, but when I think of book sprints and community writing events, consistency is an important, though sometimes difficult, goal and outcome.

Gentle, Anne and Janet Swisher. Just Write Click (2009). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides>Wikis

Choosing the Right Style Guide

Style guides can improve the quality and presentation of documentation. They establish a layer of professionalism that may not have been there before. They also reduce arguments and ‘loose cannons’ within the department, as the style guide becomes the acknowledged reference. There are at least four points to consider when selecting a style guide.

Walsh, Ivan. I Heart Tech Docs (2007). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Standards

Controlled Language – Does My Company Need It?

Controlled languages use basis writing rules to simplify sentence structure. Here is how they work and how your company can benefit from introducing a controlled language.

Muegge, Uwe. TC World (2009). Articles>Language>Style Guides>Controlled Vocabulary

Writing Great Documentation: Technical Style

Now that I’ve discussed what kinds of technical documentation to write, I can move on to the question of how to actually develop a writing style that produces great technical documentation. So how do you learn to write (anything) well? There’s only one answer: you’ll learn to write well if you write. A lot.

Kaplan-Moss, Jacob. Jacobian (2009). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides>Technical Writing

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

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