We're all Tech Writers Now: Three Steps to Clear Writing for the Web

Take some tips from technical writing that will make your opinions clear and persuasive in the new reading environment of the net.

Print media puts the reader in the passenger's seat. What if you do not want a character to die? Imagine if  write for us technology  don't just like the direction the story has taken? Traditional reading is linear--you start at chapter one and you also go to the end, without detours in between.

Instruction manuals will always be different. Who reads instruction manuals from starting to end? Instead you dip involved with it, try something, and when that doesn't appear to work, flip a few pages backward or forward and try again.

Now the internet has turned into a huge manual where in fact the reader can maneuver around at will--technology has stolen authorial control. You should expect your readers to jump around. To reach your goals, anything you write for the net has to follow exactly the same three rules that technical writers use:

Write in Chunks

Readers choose. Recognize that your audience isn't expecting a story--they have specific goals. Points have to be self-contained and clearly marked to help them find what they're looking for and move ahead. Respect your reader's time--don't make them eat the sundae when all they want is the cherry.

Follow a Structure

You can structure your content by category, rank, location--but there has to be a structure. By organizing your information you're giving your reader an instrument that lets them find what they're searching for and skip what they don't really need. If you cannot look for a structure that works, you have to define your points more clearly.

Connect it Together

You can't force your reader to follow the path you've set for them, nevertheless, you can give them usage of information that supports your message. Don't be afraid to link, both to resources outside your document also to pages inside it. Your role is to help them achieve their goals; point them towards resources that help them do that.

Like technical writing, the web is approximately helping people find information. Adopt a number of the principals of technical writing in your own work to create it get results.