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Put Your Words on a Diet
Goethe once wrote to a friend, “If I had more time, I’d have sent you a shorter letter.” Here’s why. We’re all guilty of using clichés and resorting to figures of speech, especially after a long day...
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User Guide vs User Manual – which one is Right?
Let’s say you’re setting up a new Tech Docs Dept. You need to create new guidelines, style guides and naming conventions. Should you call the user ‘documents’ User Guides or User Manuals? Which one is...
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How To Make Friday Your Busiest Day
Friday is my busiest day. Most folks power down and go into weekend mode. Not here! Ask yourself, ‘why do I go down a gear on Friday?’, ‘How does this benefit my career?’ Ok, let’s be honest. We do...
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11 Adobe Distiller Tips For Technical Writers
Most Technical Writers use Adobe PDFs to create technical guides, reports and other business documents. And while there are many free PDF converters out there, Adobe Distiller has some great features...
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Kate Winslet’s 7 Secret Ways to Revise Technical Documents
What can Kate Winslet teach you about proof-reading technical documents? Watch the movie The Reader and it will make sense. If she was writing this blog, she’d probably say: “Don’t do it all at once!...
View ArticleHow Much Does It Cost To Write a User Guide?
I write all types of technical documents. This is one of the services I provide to clients that works the best for me over the web. One of questions I get asked most every week is something like, ‘how...
View Article21 Words That Make Technical Writers Look Dumb
You need to be careful when writing user guides, design documents, and specifications as ‘false’ words give the wrong impression and undermine the quality of your material. Mr. Krabs: Hurry up! What do...
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How to Choose the Right Style Guide for Technical Writers
How do I choose the right style guide for my technical writers? I’m setting up a Technical Publications Dept. for a Financial Services company. What is the best style guide to encourage the staff to...
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Using AutoCorrect To Fix Mistakes In MS Word
Do you keep making the same mistakes when typing? Microsoft Word has a couple of built-in features that fixes your mistakes as you type. It takes a bit of tweaking to get it right, but worth the effort...
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5 Ways to Write Better Error Messages
When you write error messages for software development projects, follow these guidelines: Avoid vague wording. Give specific names and locations of the objects involved. Avoid “please.” It can be...
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