RE: Reference Manual

Subject: RE: Reference Manual
From: "Gilger.John" <JGilger -at- acresgaming -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 13:54:02 -0800

Steve Shepard queried:

> I'm a tech writer and I cook a lot. You would think a recipe in a cookbook
> and writing, say, software documentation would have some similarities.
But,
> just as there is a fair amount of bad technical writing, cookbook recipes
> seem to be even worse.
>
> For example, beginning with a list of ingredients is great, but often they
> aren't in any order that makes sense. And if the prep and cooking
> instructions are numbered, they usually include several steps, not one at
a
> time. When the instructions are in prose, I find I often have to read the
> paragraph two or three times to figure out what I am actually supposed to
> do. And when I am told "do this, but not that" I am never told "why"
(place
> it in a plastic or ceramic bowl, not glass).
>
> From the point of view of a tech writer, what would be a better way to
> present this kind of information.
>
> I am looking for ideas as I document (surprise) my recipes and I don't
want
> to fall into the same trap.

Writer's Digest http://www.writersdigest.com/catalog/index.htm has an
interesting book available called "You Can Write a Cookbook" that should
answer most of your questions.

John Gilger
Technical Writer
Acres Gaming, Inc.
702.914.5585


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