A writer is a very complex person and this complexity that everyone speaks about is in fact the mixture between the style and the information transmitted to the target audience. Writers must always consider their target public and they must do this while and as they respect the four most important rules of writing in general. These four rules are to be taken into consideration by everyone who publishes any piece of writing and they are most of the times related to the KISS principle (Keep It Short and Simple).

There is a strong and interdependent correlation between feelings and text, as when we regard both we notice that in a multicultural and educated world they cannot exist without each other. People need their feelings to write and also need written words to communicate their feelings. Taken altogether, these needs have gained the status of superior and elevated states of mind.

Writing means communicating in an artful manner. There are numerous features of the technique of communication by words that professional writers always take into account. However, one of the most important of all these rules is the respect for the KISS principle. Even if many writers may have not heard of the name yet it does not mean that they do not actually use the KISS principle.

Keep It Short and Simple! is the advice given to students by their teachers. Keep it short and simple! is the principle that most writers are guided by whenever they write clearly, accurately and in an accessible style.The clarity of a text is one of the most notable elements to take into account when you want your piece of writing to be understood and especially to be enjoyed by the readership.

We may notice that with time, writing techniques and trends evolute fast. However has not proven to be the ruining factor of the KISS rule. As much as their techniques may improve and develop, writers will always consider the importance of this principle as they ought to produce accurate, clear and concise pieces of writing.

This principle was created to last and to help text creators suit their styles and techniques in function of the needs of their readership.

By following the rules of the KISS principle writers will not only be able to control the techniques and the methods of their writing but they will also be able to compose their text in the ideal tone and style that would suit their target public.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Bruce Springsteen’s groundbreaking album Born to Run. Columbia Records is celebrating by re-releasing the disc with lots of audio and video goodies including interview material of Bruce discussing the writing of this seminal work. I’m a fan, so you can imagine I’ve been gobbling up this stuff like Thanksgiving came early!

What’s hitting home for me is hearing about how Springsteen’s back was really up against the wall while he was creating this album. His record label was considering dropping him so he knew he had to make something happen. When people ask me “how do I know if my work is good enough?”, I think of Springsteen because surely he wasn’t asking that when he was trying to figure out what to write. The answer could have been “it’s not” if he had asked someone at his record company. He had to work and learn for himself how to tell if his work was good enough. This is what I learned from how he did it.

1.) Learn From the Great Ones

In the summer of 1974 Springsteen could have been lamenting the fact that his first two albums had not been successful and he was living in a tiny house in New Jersey while the country was in the throes of a severe economic depression. But he wasn’t. He was focused on his songwriting. “I had a record player by the side of my bed,” he wrote in his book, Songs. “At night I’d lie back and listen to records by Roy Orbison, the Ronettes, the Beach Boys, and the other great ’60s artists. These were records whose full depth I’d missed the first time around. But now I was appreciating their craft and power.” Notice he wasn’t saying “There’s no way I can create songs like that!” Instead he was considering “what can I add to the conversation?” He was getting inspired and educated at the same time.

2.) Aspire to Be Great Yourself

In an interview about Born to Run, Springsteen says he knew his record company was about to drop him. He added, “I knew I had to write something great.” Springsteen didn’t have to write something great. He could have folded up his tent and said, “they don’t like me, I’m just gonna stay in Asbury Park and play where people appreciate me and that’s it.” But he didn’t do that. He also didn’t ask whether he was good enough. He simply challenged himself to go beyond himself–to be great. Ask yourself: what are you writing right now and is it challenging you to be great? What would it take for you to start thinking this way?

3.) Find Trusted Ears for Feedback

Yes, it is hard to know on your own whether you’re on track with your writing. That’s when you recruit your own inner circle of readers whose ears and eyes you trust. Jon Landau became one of those trusted pairs of ears for Springsteen. They became friends during the writing of Born to Run and Bruce often sent Jon, then a Boston music critic, tapes of the work as it progressed. When the work stalled, Landau was the one who came in and helped Bruce put it all together. Who can be those ears or eyes for you? Try to keep the inner circle small. If you have too many opinions showered on your work it may cloud your creative judgment.

4.) Try Something Different

Most of the songs on Born to Run were written on piano–this from a guy known for his raucous Fender guitar. But writing on piano gave Springsteen new ideas and presented new opportunities for him to explore. It also gave the album an amazingly emotional and intimate vibe that I find intoxicating. What can you do differently that can inspire a leap to your next level? Set your novel in 1905 instead of 2005? Write from the point of view of the opposite sex? Be a little creative with your non-fiction? Take a chance. No effort is ever wasted even if you’re writing badly–you can still learn from what you’ve done wrong.

5.) Think Local, Write Global

One of the changes Springsteen made with Born to Run was that the characters in his songs were “less eccentric and less local” than the ones on his previous albums. The people in Born to Run “could have been anybody and everybody,” he says. “When the screen door slams on ‘Thunder Road’, you’re not necessarily on the Jersey Shore anymore. You could be anywhere in America.” And it’s true. Millions of people connected with–and bought– Born to Run. I sought the same kind of connection for my novel. Though the family in All I Need to Get By is African-American, I’ve had readers of all races tell me how they have seen themselves in one or more of the characters and how they related strongly to the book’s family issues. Touching people in this way is key to developing an attentive audience. How can you open up your work to a larger audience while still being true to your story?

If you still have doubts, think of this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires…courage.” Be courageous for yourself and your writing. Your own Born to Run may be waiting to come out.

© 2005 Sophfronia Scott

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can! If possible, please include this information with the story: Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is “The Book Sistah” TM. Get her FREE REPORT, “The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published” and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com

If you need to hire a technical writer for an upcoming project, you will likely find that you have plenty of qualified candidates to consider. There are now a variety of sources through which you can find great writers, so locating people for the job should not be a problem. The challenge, however, comes when you start to work on narrowing down that initial list. In order to pick the right person for the job, you are going to need to go into the process with a clear picture of the knowledge and experience that needs to be possessed by the winning contractor.

Focus on the Writing

It might sound obvious, but the first thing you should look for is someone who can write quality content. Believe it or not, many businesses miss on this point when hiring a technical writer. A common mistake is placing importance on experience in the specific field above the ability to write. For instance, if you are hiring a writer for an engineering-related project, it will be tempting to pick the candidate with the strongest background in that field. However, if that person isn’t a great writer, you will be wasting your time and money. You already have people with engineering knowledge in your company – you need to hire someone who can bring writing skills to the table. Content can always be edited as necessary to correct technical mistakes related to the field in question – it is much more difficult to revise the style or quality of writing as a whole.

Find Experience

For technical writers, experience provides them with the ability to ask the right questions. Asking questions is a big part of being a good writer, because those questions help point the content in the right direction. If you can hire a writer with many years of experience working for a variety of clients, they will already have the knowledge necessary to ask smart questions. Also, experience is the only way to hone the craft of writing, so someone who is just getting started in this field likely won’t be able to offer you the same quality as a long-standing professional writer.

Samples, Of Course

One of the first things you should do is review writing samples from all of your candidates. Ask each potential hire to submit two or three writing samples. Hopefully, these will be pieces that are at least someone relevant to the project that you are needing to have completed. If a writer can’t offer you at least a couple of good samples, it should raise a red flag that perhaps they are not the right person for the job.

Offer a Fair Rate

You don’t always ‘get what you pay for’ in life, but you usually do when it comes to writing. If a specific writer is offering to do the work for far less than everyone else you are considering, there is probably a reason they are willing to work for cents on the dollar. Good writers know that they are worth the money, so they stand firmly by their rates. Do a quick evaluation of the market and set a budget that will allow you to hire a quality, experienced technical writer.

Check References

Finally, it is always good hiring practice to contact at least one or two references to learn a little more about the individual in question. Did they do good work for their previous clients or employers? What kind of work did they excel with, and does their writing ability have any weaknesses? Asking a couple of pointed questions should get you all of the information that you need to make a great decision.

A consistent technical document is one that instills confidence and trust in end-users. It all starts with a template. It doesn’t matter whether you are creating a book, help file, or a web site. A template is a must.

Once you’ve got your template designed and under control, you need to follow a style guideline to create a well-rounded and consistent document.

Here are some useful pointers:

Start all your ordered (numbered) and unordered lists with an action verb. “Enter your password” is better than “The system will ask you to enter your password. Please do so.”

A great many user actions in software documentation address a user clicking a button in order to display a certain screen. Follow the same pattern by using the same kind of compound sentence to describe those two related action.

For example: “Click the Next button to display the configuration screen.”

You can use the same first-this-followed-by-that pattern within a hardware context as well:

Another: “Measure the voltage before connecting the wires to ensure safety.”

Decide whether you want to use “check box” or “check-box” and stick with it. Don’t shift back and forth between those two usages.

Same goes with “dropdown box” and “drop-down box” or “drop-down list.”

Table captions usually precede the tables, whereas figure captions follow the figures. Make sure you are consistent with the way you use your table titles and figure captions as well.

There are no stylistic and absolute rights or wrongs in this business and there’s no such thing as “too much” consistency when it comes to technical writing. What’s more important is to make a set of style and format decisions and stick with it.

A movie review gives indication as to whether or not others will find the movie worth watching. The purpose of most movie reviews is to help the reader in determining whether they want to watch, rent or buy the movie. The review should also give enough details about the movie so that the reader can make an up-to-date decision as to whether to watch the movie or not. At the same time, the review should not give away too much of the essential plot of the story.

In this article we will be discussing the guidelines that should be followed while writing a movie review. Before starting to write a review, the writer should remember the following procedure:

– Selecting the movie

– Knowing the context of the movie, such as it’s director, actors, story and many more

– Formulating the writers opinion in one sentence

– Selecting special scenes from the movie or other facts that will support the writer’s opinion.

The first step in writing the review is to watch the movie. Most take notes as they watch the movie. Watching the movie a second time helps to absorb a lot more detail about the movie. Most movie reviewers give their personal opinion of the movie in their review. In all good journalism, the reviewer should always give impartial details, and allow the reader to make their own opinion as well.

Reviewer’s opinions should be explained to allow the reader to determine whether the readers would agree or not. The reviewer also needs to consider the audience. Writing a movie review for children requires a different approach than if writing for a general movie audience. The review should always be written keeping the targeted audience in mind. The main essence of the movie should be retained in an outlined sketch — but it should always be remembered not to give away any essential details like surprises or a sudden turn in the plot.

Details of actors, crew members, directors should be mentioned in the review. It should also be mentioned how well they have acted and how well the movie has been made technically. The technicalities are an important part of the review. Technicalities include art direction, music, editing lighting, cinematography and many more.

Movie reviews even include a little bit of criticism if needed. Criticism says what could have been done to make the film better or what the weak points of the movie are. Though critical analysis is not always needed, a word or two can serve the purpose in a movie review.

Conclusion

A reviewer must always remember to give an outline of the whole story, but not give away details which hold surprises or the special essence of the film. It should be kept untold for the audience to watch the film. The review should be written keeping a note of the types of readers who would be reading the review. The language, presentation and technicalities of writing would also depend on the types of readers. The medium which the review will be published is also important, because if the review is published on the net, the reviewer will get mostly youth readers. However, if it is going to be published in a local language in a local daily newspaper, then the approach should be different.

A good first impression makes a difference; a document that looks unreadable will probably not get read.

Just as your business clothes make a clear statement about your professionalism, so the appearance of the material you write makes a statement too. If the page is sloppy or if it looks wrong, your expertise may be questioned. If content sounds arrogant, out of date, or impossible to read, you may have unwittingly set up a negative response.

Before you send your document, take a good look at it. Does it look inviting? Or is it off-putting? The white space you see is not merely an absence of print; it leads the reader’s eye to the nearest black. If there is too much black, it looks too tough to read and readers are reluctant to plunge in.  They may set it aside, skim here and there, or simply trash it immediately. Whatever they do, you have not impressed them.

So, if there is not enough white space in your document, add some. How? Split any paragraph that is more than two and a half inches long. Use lists. Maintain good margins. Or create one wide column for text and a more narrow column for “pull quotes.” By the way, pull quotes are an ideal technique to use in dense documents because they lighten the overall look while repeating an important phrase or sentence from the text–and drawing attention to it.

Conversely, if there is too much white space, the material looks disorganized and impossible to read. Of course, you may have a paragraph that is only one sentence long. But if all your paragraphs are single sentences, the document looks like the writer doesn’t really understand what a paragraph is. Fix it.

Here’s how to improve the appearance of all your documents.

• Think of the white space as an important component of the letter or document. The margins should frame the material, and the text must not appear too dense to wade through.
• Try to keep letters to one or two pages. If you must convey a lot of information, use a cover letter and attach the information to it.
• Avoid loose odds and ends–such as a single sentence on a second page.
• Use lists to efficiently move the reader’s eye through information and to add white space.
• Keep paragraphs to a maximum of four sentences. In a letter, remember to close with a separate paragraph “Call for Action”; do not write a one-paragraph letter.

What you say is important to the reader only if they bother to read. When you make your material look easy to read, it will actually get read. When your document looks accessible, it is.  The truth is, whether we like it or not, appearance counts.

The combination of the decorative arts with literature and creative writing has led to many classical stories and novels themed around a painting or artifact. Others have used tapestry as metaphor to imply a weaving of a tale, and using tapestry to theme a story has strengthened the power that tapestry has of telling a legend or story through a magnificent tableau. When we think of what it is about tapestry that inspires those to write and use the craft in literature there is the weaving element of words being spun together to form a tale. There may of course be a story hidden within the stitches of a tapestry just waiting to be told or imagined and recreated. Just as the tapestry is created by fine stitchery so stories are developed through connecting ideas.

Stories Without End In The Walls

The Tapestry House was first written by Mrs Molesworth in 1879 and is centred around a small girl who lives in a house where one of the rooms is covered in tapestry. Indeed her maid says that,” There are stories without end in the walls of the tapestry room”. Viewing the tapestry in the moonlight sees it draped in natural beauty and with creatures coming to life. Imagine a peacock walking out of a tapestry! A magical tale is woven, firing the imagination of those who gaze at a tapestry and wonder what the picture really means.

Silk Tapestry by Patrick Atagan tells the story of an old woman, a boy and a wild spirit who combine to change the world around them in this charming Chinese folk tale. The completion of a magical tapestry is a core element to the story and enhances the mystique around antique and faded tapestries and the tale woven into the fabric.

Inspired by Tapestry

Tapestry and famous paintings have been known to inspire writers to create novels from the view they perceive. One of the more well known novels relating to tapestry is the Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier which was inspired by the famous panels depicting the six senses and now displayed in the Cluny Museum. Each panel features the Lady and a Unicorn and is themed around a sense such as sight or hearing. The story unfolds as a Paris Nobleman commissions a set of six tapestries to impress and the young weaver, wanting a change from creating battle scenes, designs the Unicorn panels, all depicting an aspect of the six senses. Into the story is woven loves, friendships and rivalry, as well as historical research concerning the lives of dyers and weavers at the time. It is, in effect a tapestry about a tapestry.

Using a different yet powerful perspective, Marjory Agosin in her book, Tapestries of Hope, Threads of Love 1974-1994 tells the stories of countless women living in poverty and hardship in Chile under the Pinochet regime. In one of the most spectacular protests the omen created arpilleras or patchwork tapestries of everyday life, embroidering their sorrow into the fabric as they told the story of their disappeared relatives. Smuggled out of Chile these tapestries expressed the fruitless searches to the world. In a way that imparted great emotion and feeling, these stories told through tapestry recounted a very different type of narrative in a powerful and striking manner.

Tapestry as Metaphor

Tapestry implies a weaving and creation of a picture or pieces coming together to form a wider perspective. Tapestry has been used in the title of a number of crime novels and thrillers to imply a mysterious aspect. In fantasy novels tapestry is evident in titles such as the Fionavar Trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay, perhaps implying a mysterious weaving together of ideas. Like tapestry panels such as the classical Unicorn series, a trilogy also combines a series of novels into a bigger story than can be contained in one picture or book.

Combining the Creative Arts

Writing and literature express ideas and creative imaginations. In early medieval times before the development of literacy and mass produced books tapestry was used to tell a story to the masses, such as the Bayeux Tapestries. That tapestry finds itself in literature and in storytelling is not unusual but a powerful combination of the creative arts that is more readily accessible in the age of information. Tapestry will continue to have a classical and timeless appeal and will still be an inspiration to those who wish to be creative in thought and action.

These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but it’s pretty well established in the tech writing business that there’s a difference. It’s not that one is better than the other, but, generally speaking, they have different uses.

Flyer (also leaflet and handbill)

A flyer is a single sheet of paper, usually 8 1/2 x 11 (A4), used to get information to a large number of people inexpensively. Flyers are popular for small scale advertising.

They’re often, quite literally, throw-aways because they’re handed out at random or posted in public places in the hope they’ll be read. If they’re intended to be posted, such as on a bulletin board or put up in a window, they’re printed on one side only. If they’re going to be hand held or mailed, they can be printed on both sides.

The purpose of a flyer is to provide a limited amount of information for a limited time at relatively low production costs. Some common uses are:

• announcements of social or commercial events
• product information such as a spec sheet left in new cars
• fact sheets distributed at a press conference

While desktop publishing has made it easy for non-professionals to produce quite sophisticated flyers, many businesses rely on professional writers and graphic artists for the copy and layout of business flyers.

There is some disagreement on whether a flyer and a flier are the same thing. The preferred usage in Standard Written English is that a flier is someone or something that flies.

Brochure (also pamphlet)

Brochures are normally more sophisticated than flyers and more expensive to produce. As much time, effort, and expense can go into producing a quality brochure as producing a short video. Businesses produce millions of brochures every year, and a skilled brochure writer is well paid.

Brochures are used as sales or information resources that may be retained and read a number of times by a specific audience. They’re commonly displayed in racks at airports, hotels, and doctors’ offices, but as random as this seems, it’s expected that only the people interested in the subject of the brochure will take one.

They’re not intended to be throw-aways. They’re widely used as follow-ups to initial sales contacts and as supplementary information sources. An insurance company, for example, might use one brochure as a sell-piece and later mail a different brochure to provide details of its policies to a person who has indicated interest.

There is no limit to the size or shape of a brochure, but the most common format is a single sheet of paper folded once – to create four panels – or twice – to create six panels. The first format is most often called one-fold or bi-fold. The second one is usually called tri-fold or tri-panel.

A great blurb can make the difference between a customer taking out his/her wallet to buy your book or putting the book back on the shelf. Great blurbs sell books.

But what is a blurb, exactly?

A blurb is the copy on the back cover of your book. After the cover, the blurb is the first thing a customer will check when considering to buy a book. It should hook, intrigue and grab the reader right away.

“Book blurbs are eye candy to the consumer,” says publicist Penny Sansevieri, founder of Author Marketing Experts.

Not only to customers. A great blurb can help you find a publisher or an agent, too.

Last year I sent dozens of query letters in my search for an agent. As you probably know, most query letters are composed of a blurb of the book (the hook), some info about the book (genre, word count, etc), and a short author bio or list of qualifications. The agents who responded said “No, thanks.” I’m not surprised. The blurb was as flat as a French crepe. One of these agents wrote to say she wasn’t particularly excited about my book, but asked if I had something else to show her. By this time I had improved my blurb and had a completely new version. I mentioned this to her and asked her to consider my edited blurb, which she did. Her response was “Well, I have to admit this is a pretty convincing blurb.” She requested the first three chapters. To make a long story short, she took me in based on the strength of those three chapters. In this case, my blurb was the key factor in getting the agent’s attention.

This is the blurb I first included in my query letter:

Can a good man be persuaded into committing murder and still retain his goodness?

Lullaby is about the restless soul of an aborted infant who, in order to become powerful enough to be reborn, must tempt humans into committing evil acts. Having temporarily acquired the form of a beautiful woman, this being plays mind games with the protagonist, bringing back memories of his tragic childhood. As deeply buried feelings of hate and revenge spring to the surface, the protagonist must struggle with his conscience to do the right thing. But will he, when his own ideas about justice and the higher good tell him it is right to kill?

Now compare it to the second one which got the agent’s attention:

At a trendy Turkish tavern one Friday night, astrophysicist Gabriel Diaz meets a mysterious young woman. Captivated out of his senses by her physical perfection as well as her views on good and evil, he spends the next several days with her. After a while, however, he begins to notice a strangeness in her–her skin’s abnormally high temperature, her obsession with milk products, her child-like and bizarre behavior as she seems to take pleasure in toying with his conscience.

The young woman, Kamilah, invites him to Rize, Turkey, where she claims her family owns a cottage in the woods. In spite of his heavy workload and the disturbing visions and nightmares about his sister’s baby that is due to be born soon, Gabriel agrees to go with her.

But nothing, not even the stunning beauty of the Black Sea, can disguise the horror of her nature. In a place where death dwells and illusion and reality seem as one, Gabriel must now come to terms with his own demons in order to save his sister’s unborn child, and ultimately, his own soul…

Here are some guidelines to help you create great blurbs:

*Keep it short (100-250 words). The aim is to convey what makes the book unique in a small amount of space.

*In it set the mood, the scene, and the conflict or enigma.

*It should have mounting tension. The beginning should have a “hint” of the conflict or threat, yet remain pretty innocuous (look at my blurb number two: boy meets girl in a tavern). By the end of the blurb, the conflict or threat should be imminent (protagonist must save his sister’s unborn child and his own soul).

*Think of the best angle to approach your story. Both of my blurbs describe what happens in my novel, yet the second one sounds much more exciting.

*As with a good book review, never put “spoilers” in the blurb. You can do this in a book summary or synopsis, but never in a blurb. (Look again at my blurb number one. In it I make the big mistake of revealing the nature of my “evil” female protagonist–she is the soul of an aborted infant. In blurb number two, you suspect there’s something wrong with her, but you don’t know what. You’re left wondering).

*Think about what makes your book different.

*Question marks can be used to leave the reader intrigued.

*Often ellipsis are used at the end to leave reader asking questions.

*Keep adverbs and adjectives to a minimum and use action verbs.

*Needless to say, make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors.

*If your book is non-fiction, does it have special features like pictures or diagrams? What is the aim of the book? What are you trying to accomplish? Does it teach anything? How is this book different from others in the field?

*Remember that blurbs are not summaries! Don’t tell the whole story–only the exciting part of it so that the reader will want to know more.

*Don’t exaggerate or sugar coat it. Be professional.

*Study the blurbs from your book shelves, paying special attention to their style, language, and content.

*Write and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. Then show it to people who can offer honest feedback.

One last tip:

Do you know that powerful, dramatic voice that you hear in the cinemas during movie trailers? That alluring voice, often exaggerated, that describes the movies? Well, read your own blurb with this voice in your mind, matching its tone and pitch. You’ll be surprised to find out how much that helps!

One kind of project that a tech writer is often given is to explain a process. It can be anything from a short how-to product description to a major document that details the operation of a complicated machine.

A couple of interesting examples that come to mind from my own experience are a video for technicians on how to use the Rotunda Fuel Injector Tester/Cleaner and an installation and service manual for the KWAUN 4600 Copier. Both required extensive research to determine exactly how the machines worked followed by careful consideration of the best ways to lay out the processes.

If you don’t have a lot of experience with this type of work (and sometimes even if you do), it’s possible to fall into a number traps when it comes to providing a clear, concise, and complete description of a process.

You have to consider:

– who your target audience is

– what they already know about the subject

– what, if any, experience they’ve had with the process

– what, if any, experience they’ve had with similar processes

– what you’ll need to explain either in words, illustrations, or both

Your job is to explain how to make a piece of toast.

The exercise in divided into 2 parts. They involve the same process, but each is directed to a different audience. It’ll be good practice to work out the exact steps involved in this seemingly simple process. You’ll also have to alter your content and approach depending on your target audience.

Toaster Details:

The toaster is an ordinary, two-slice, home kitchen toaster. It has a slide to push down to start the toasting process. There’s a “light to dark” dial from 0 to 10. It has a separate button for toasting only one side for bagels and English muffins.

Exercise – Part One

Write a step-by-step process for turning a single piece of bread into a piece of dark toast.

The audience is 18- to 25-year olds who live in cities of populations of over 10,000. These cities are located west of the Mississippi and north of Kentucky.

Exercise – Part Two

Write a step-by-step process for turning a single piece of bread into a piece of dark toast.

The audience is 18- to 25 year olds who have lived their whole lives on an island in the South Pacific with a population of under 500. They are aware of but not familiar with electricity and indoor plumbing.

After you’ve written your two processes, check the solutions below to see how your work compares. Look for what you missed or what you thought of that the solutions missed.

Solutions

The task was to write a brief process on how to make a piece of toast using an ordinary toaster. Your target audience was two very different groups of people.

Part One – Solution

It’s reasonable to expect that the first group, the young Americans, are pretty knowledgeable about making toast even if, for some reason, they’ve never done it. That tells you that you can start at a pretty high level of experience and familiarity with bread and toasters. What you need to do is balance what they already know with what you need to tell them.

The basic steps in making a piece of toast for this group would look something like this:

1. Take a slice of bread [Graphic A: hand holding a slice of bread]

2. Put it into one of the slots in the top of the toaster [Graphic B: bread being inserted into a slot in the top of the toaster]

3. Set the “light to dark dial” scale from 0 to 10 depending on how toasted you want the bread to be [Graphic C: illustration of the scale with an arrow pointing at one of the numbers]

4. Press the slide all the way down [Graphic D: fingers pressing slide down with arrow indicating direction]

5. When the toast is done, it will pop up automatically [Graphic E: slice of toast sitting in the toaster slot]

Part Two – Solution

The second target audience, the young people from the South Pacific island, presents an entirely different challenge. You wouldn’t make the same assumptions of experience and familiarity. In fact, you have to assume that these people might be totally unfamiliar with the whole concept of making toast.

You need to start at a much more basic level.

The basic steps in making a piece of toast for this group would look something like this:

[Graphic A: Illustration of a toaster with the various components called out]

1. A toaster is an electrical appliance that must be plugged into a 120v electrical outlet [Graphic B: illustration of the power cord of the toaster plugged into an outlet with plug and outlet called out]

2. Bread comes in many shapes and sizes [Graphic C: a number of illustrations of representative shapes and sizes of bread]

3. To begin, select a single slice of bread that will fit into the toast slot [see Graphic D: toast slot]

4. The slice of bread should not touch either end of the slot and should be thinner than the width of the slot [Graphic E: illustration of bread slice in the slot]

Note: If the slice of bread is to thick or too wide, it could stick in the slot or be burned by the heating elements.

5. Set the “light to dark dial” scale from 0 to 10 depending on how toasted you want the bread to be [Graphic F: illustration of the scale with an arrow pointing at one of the numbers]

Note: The toast will be darker (more toasted) the higher the number you select on the scale.

6. Press the slide on the front of the toaster down as far as it will go [Graphic G: fingers pressing slide down with arrow indicating direction] and let go of it

Note: While in operation, the toaster will become hot. Do not touch the toaster while it is in operation.

7. When the bread is done toasting, the slice will pop up automatically [Graphic H: slice of toast sitting in the toaster slot]

It’s obvious that the approach and content is very different for the two groups.

Generally speaking, the steps in the process must:

– be in a logical order

– provide information that tells what to do next

– provide information that tells what to expect when a step is completed

– provide graphics and illustrations that support the text

As a tech writer, you can’t assume that everyone knows the same things or knows as much as you do about a process. You must consider not only what the audience knows, but also what you can do to make their grasp of the process firm.