Review the resources listed below to prepare for this week’s assignments. The resources may include textbook reading assignments, journal articles, websites, links to tools or software, videos, handouts, rubrics, etc.
What possibly could go wrong? Without clear instructions on how to build, make, travel, and process a task, it is like you will not end up creating the perfect masterpiece or getting to the palace you intended to go to. The following webpage reveals several “misinterpretations of instructions and what can go wrong when manuals or instructions are not clear.
This resource gives insight into the purpose and process of instruction manuals, both from the point of view of the author (purpose) and the audience (process). Further, it also offers insight into the creation of video instructions, which we’ll explore next week.
Read:
Section 9.1: Writing Clear Instructions
Baker, S. (2019). Professional and technical writing. OER Commons. https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/54645-professional-and-technical-writing/9/view
Writing an instruction manual is no easy task. This chapter offers insight, tips, and tricks to plan and craft your instruction manual to make it audience-friendly and well planned.
Read:
Chapter 27: Writing Reader-Centered Instructions
Pages: 458-479
To access the Redshelf book, click on the book link located in the book resources module or the bookshelf link on the top navigation bar of the course.
Anderson, P.V. (2019). Technical communication: A reader-centered approach. Redshelf
Manual technical writing is a science unto itself. It has to be precise, clear, and accurate. Imagine wanting to bake a cake, and the recipe does not include baking powder; you might end up with a pretty flat cake. The following video will walk you through the process of manual writing. The author provides some good insights along the way. After reviewing this video, you will have a much greater understanding of the reasons why there are an art and science to creating these types of documents.
Hall, M. (2019). Manual writing. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ha522MHVbmo
On the following website, you have access to a wide collection of recipes. Look over the different dishes and then select at least five to review. First, notice how this webpage uses visuals to draw you in; that is all part of creating a good technical sales page. Once you have selected your recipes to review, take a minute to review the ingredients, and then look at the instructions. Consider why the instructions were developed in such a way. Why did one part of the process come before the other? What might happen is this was not detailed and specific? When you have completed this review, you will have gained a deeper insight into the WHY instructions that are methodically created.
Finecooking.com (2020). https://www.finecooking.com/
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