Technical Writing
Technical Documentation Practice
Technical documentation is the reference material people rely on when they don't have the writer in the room. Good documentation is accurate, complete, well organized, and written for the person who will actually use it.
Common documentation types
- Reference documentation — describes what a thing is and how it works
- Task documentation — describes how to accomplish a specific job
- Conceptual documentation — explains the ideas a reader needs to make sense of everything else
- Troubleshooting documentation — helps a reader diagnose and correct problems
How to practice
Choose a piece of software or equipment you know well. Write a one-page reference sheet for it. Then rewrite that sheet as if the reader had never used it before. The gap between the two versions is where technical writing lives.
Try it
Practice this in a timed session.
Realistic source material, a task timer, and a scored result.
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