Technical Writing For Dummies (For Dummies

by Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts

Learn to document the technology that makes the world go Technical Writing For Dummies is a master class on how to build a career writing user manuals, e-learning, streaming, simulations, and more. It even zooms into the metaverse. Whether you’re new to the field, a seasoned professional, or a technical person who needs to write, this guide arms you with the skills you need to cash in on this flourishing world of technical writing. This isn’t your average how-to. It’s a compendium of innovative industry knowledge that will help you set yourself apart with the latest trends and best practices in technical writing. As a tech writer, you’ll need a robust skillset that allows you to offer clear and concise documentation for just about anything. This new edition of Technical Writing For Dummies ―updated for all of today’s tech writing advances―can get you there. Whether you’re a technical writer or technical professional who needs to write―you can learn the best practices of effective technical writing, as well as how to navigate its various formats and platforms, thanks to this handy Dummies guide.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Business

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2001

Reviews

[Seb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technical writing's been a central part of my job for years and so far I've never read anything about it. It just flowed naturally and I followed my instincts on it. As I've been asked by a co-worker to help her to write proficient and accurate documentation, I picked up this book to get some explicitation of what was implicit to me before helping her.

The first half of the book was very useful and helped me put words to concepts I'd never really thought of. The second half was not up to the first and I've skimmed through it rather than reading.

All in all, a good explanation of the job but not a memorable book either.

[Ntombizakhona Mabaso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is broad, thorough, and impressively comprehensive, covering far more than I anticipated.

It delves into the intersection of technology and writing, including insights on cloud computing and its impact on content creation.

Beyond technical writing, it explores various communication methods, making it an invaluable resource for anyone looking to create effective content.


Highly recommended for aspiring writers and content creators alike!

[MK · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ironically, the book "Technical Writing For Dummies" was not written in technical writing.
I got tons of Dummies series for new year reading but I wasted so much time reading them.
The structure of the Dummies series is complicated and very confusing for the beginners.

[Daniel Rosehill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful introduction to technical writing. However, written for a different era.

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was Technical Writing For Dummies by Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. I think this is quite an old book because in the part about internet browsers she says the main 2 are internet explorer and netscape communicator. As you probably know netscape hasn't been around for a while. This book covers its subject quite well and there is sections on writing online in either internet or network. It does also cover writing how to manuals as well as magazine articles and also giving talks. One thing it does say is you have to understand what you're writing about but you don't need to about every aspect of the subject you're writing. A lot of people who do technical writing know nothing about something and have to interview the people who have worked on it and obviously just stick to what he is writing about. It's important that a layperson can understand what you're writing and a lot of people do technical writing in a complex way which let's face it you can't assume your audience is knowledgeable about the subject. This is especially important when you're writing a how to guide for a product. If you are doing a guide like that you must write out the steps then work out how you are going to incorporate it into your writing. You should also include a bit on troubleshooting for if they have any problems. If you're writing a magazine article you write out the important points like the advantages and disadvantages of something then work out what you are going to write in your article. Finally an example of point I want to make is there are 31 million pages in the data documents for a Boeing 747 but nobody needs to read all that thankfully and give everyone who works on it a manual Boeing have it all online and people look at what they need to know.

[Clifton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its first chapters are very informative, but it is almost too fundamental. It's definitely a skim read--it offers really helpful "nuggets" of information. Just don't expect to become an expert technical writer from reading it straight through...