#30522
Marketing Writing for Technical Products 
This workshop will examine the types of marketing materials that can give you creative experience. You'll learn how to adapt your skills and subject matter knowledge to these projects, how to plan and develop different types of materials, and how to identify opportunities for new types of communication.
King, Janice M. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Technical Writing
#23312
Issues of technical writing and the effective presentation of mathematics and computer science. Preparation of theses, papers, books, and 'literate' computer programs.
Knuth, Donald E., Tracy Larrabee and Paul M. Roberts. Stanford University (1987). Articles>Writing>Scientific Communication>Mathematics
#27593
Microcontent refers to small, granular, and possibly representative (that can provide a summary of or a navigation to a larger set of information) bits of information, typically available on the Web. An example in the domain of journalism might be headlines and news summaries, small bits of content that can be used on a front page of the news with links to more in-depth articles. The definition has grown in scope as much as in its application.
Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2006). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Technical Writing
#19639
In a multibillion-dollar-per-yearcindustry, medical technical writers are well situated between companies that manufacture drugs and medical equipment and the federal government, which regulates the manufacture of drugs and medical equipment. The government requires that these companies produce specific types of documents, which must be of a very high standard. This situation creates lucrative opportunities for technical writers.
English, Wayne A. Intercom (2003). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Technical Writing
#29365
Members' Tips for Writing a Compelling White Paper 
It takes time and a strong focus to create a solid white paper, according to TechRepublic members who shared tips and insight about white paper creation. Find out what should be your first step and your last for a successful effort.
Mottl, Judith N. TechRepublic (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Writing>White Papers
#23535
A memo is a concise document that conveys essential information about your accomplishment(s). All memos at Ohio University should be written in third person.
Young, V.L. and K.J. Sampson. Ohio University (2004). Articles>Writing>Business Communication>Technical Writing
#29467
Mental Models: Laying Foundations to Support Readers
Technical communication is often no more complicated than clearly describing the steps in a procedure, but sometimes we must create new models for each key part of a complex procedure.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2007). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
#30594
The Merging Work of Technical and Marketing Communications
Increasingly, technical communicators are being asked by their companies to participate in marketing efforts. While most of us have long considered user's manuals and other documentation an important ingredient in maintaining customer loyalty, we have accepted that generally our primary function is to instruct people on the use or repair of products. Our job is to make complex information understandable; if in doing so we also make friends of customers and prospective customers, then we are pleasantly surprised.
Palokoff, Kathy. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Marketing
#23398
A problem that sometimes occurs, when authors ask my advice about the method of presenting an instruction, is that they use words that I think will not necessarily be understood by people whose mother-tongue is not English.
Farrington, Gordon. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
#28004
Michael Stelzner's Writing White Papers Blog 
Michael Stelzner's Writing White Papers Blog is offers comprehensive look at all white paper related topics, from writing to marketing.
Stelzner, Michael A. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Writing>White Papers>Blogging
#20700
Even if a tech writer did have an itch to produce micro-docs, the odds of the writer putting everything together on his own might be next to non-existent.
Creative Tech Writer, The (2003). Articles>Publishing>Writing
#26068
Review: Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications
Microsoft is one of the largest software companies in the world. Thus, with their rich experience in documentation it is only natural that they share it with the rest of the IT industry. The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, Third Edition (MSTP) is the latest step in this direction and takes care of latest technologies and technical terms.
Sharma, Sangeet. Indus (2005). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides>Technical Writing
#26064
Microsoft Word 2000 and Readability
A discussion of th Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula, as implemented in Microsoft Word.
Nafde, Yamini. Indus (2005). Articles>Writing>Usability>Microsoft Word
#28074
Microwriting: Small Choices with Large Implications
The little elements of writing can make a big difference. If you're looking for a way to refresh your writing, consider paying close attention to the aspects involved in microwriting.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2006). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
#21408
Mistakes Technical Writers Make 
Inexperienced technical writers typically make a number of avoidable mistakes, including parroting the SME and hard-coding xrefs. Here is a description of some mistakes to avoid.
Docsymmetry (2003). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing
#31700
Modeling Rhetoric in Scientific Publications 
Despite the advent of computer-centered ways of creating and accessing scientific knowledge, the format of the scientific research article has remained basically unchanged. We have developed a model of a more appropriate form for research publications to structure scientific articles, based on a rhetorical structure which is ubiquitous in (natural) science papers. The model has three components: defining rhetorical elements inside the documents, the identification of the argumentational relationships between these elements; and the connection of data elements and entities to external sources.
de Waard, Anita, Leen Breure, Joost G. Kircz and Herre van Oostendorp. INSCIT (2006). Articles>Scientific Communication>Rhetoric>Technical Writing
#28110
This paper documents an ongoing experiment designed to integrate the teaching of college algebra and college rhetoric and writing at Montgomery College in Conroe, Texas. These are the first two college-level math and English courses that students take within the college's core curriculum. Our approach focuses on the concept of models and model building and might be easily adapted to a variety of math and writing classes. We believe we have maintained the necessary rigor of both disciplines while providing a foundation which links them.
Heckelman, Ronald J. and Will-Matthis Dunn III. LLAD (2006). Articles>Writing>Education
#23445
More on Education for Technical Communicators
For most readers of TC-Forum, technical communication is an activity undertaken by dedicated technical communicators, for whom writing, editing, illustrating, or page-making is their chosen vocation. Yet there is also a much larger community for whom technical communication is only a secondary activity, although it remains an essential part of their work.
Blicq, Ronald S. TC-FORUM (1998). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing
#30338
I think it can be dangerous for a technical writer to be a grammar expert.
DeGraw, Yvonne. Boston Broadside (1993). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Grammar
#29807
More Than Just Error Correction: Students' Perspectives on Their Revision Processes During Writing
Drawing on the second phase of a 2-year study of students' linguistic and compositional processes, this article describes students' reflections on their online revision processes, those revisions made during the process of translating thoughts into written text. The data collected were from classroom observation and post hoc interviews with 34 students, who were observed during a writing task in the English classrooms and interviewed subsequently to elicit their reflections and understandings of their own revising processes. The analysis indicates that students tend to conceptualize revision as a macro-strategy and as a task that is predominantly undertaken as a posttextual production reviewing activity. It also indicates that students engage in multiple revising activities during writing, including many revisions that are not concerned with simple matters of surface accuracy, and many students are able to talk about these perceptively and with insight.
Myhill, Debra and Susan Jones. Written Communication (2007). Articles>Writing>Editing
#19636
The Most Obvious Fault in Technical Writing
The most obvious fault is wordiness. Fortunately, long-windedness is something that editors are particularly well equipped to fix. Take a look at our manuals. They are huge, and their very bulk can make them inaccessible, especially when they are not equipped with a good index or adequate indicia in the corners of each page.
Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2003). Articles>Writing>Style Guides
#29352
Motivating and Preparing Students to Submit Articles on Technical Writing
Technical writing students must learn that technical writing is objective, unemotional, unequivocal, and factual.
Estrin, Herman A. CCC (1974). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing
#19784
Lam’s software-controlled robotic etchers demanded multi-disciplinary manuals that were time-consuming to write. Since both software and hardware changes required a six-month re-write, manuals lagged behind product. Dividing manuals structurally into modular books enabled separate updates, as most urgently required. Modular engineering approaches to ongoing etcher development later drove a different modular design; but the approach enabled quick documentation of rapidly changing product. Company growth and product proliferation now combine with computer technologies to drive development of increasingly smaller modules of information, leading to a database model for books that may someday match individual machines.
Snavely, Deborah. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Content Management>Writing
#20470
Misplaced modifiers are usually obvious and easily fixed.
#31109
Musings on User-Generated Documentation
User-generated documentation is a big issue in technical communication circles. If properly done, tapping into the knowledge of users can improve the quality and breadth of your documentation.
DMN Communications (2008). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Wikis
