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Needed: recommendations for tech writing textbooks
Subject:Needed: recommendations for tech writing textbooks From:Susan Fowler <sfowler -at- EJV -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 31 Aug 1995 09:05:35 EDT
Does anyone have a recommendation for a tech writing textbook (or a list of
recommended textbooks)? I'm looking for a textbook or handbook that describes
all the new stuff (defined below) and contains lots of good and bad examples of
tech writing for rewriting and editing practice.
Topics I'm looking for (not in any particular order):
Definitions of and differences between minimalist, reference, chunked/
Information Builder, and task-oriented formats.
How to write a procedure, how to write an introductory section to the procedure,
how to write benefits statements, etc.
How to do screen shots, illustrations, and so on, and how to turn text into
graphics and tables.
How to write and 'code' online help (issues therein).
How to do a good TofC, how to do a good index.
How to write for international audiences (controlled English, cartoon-style
documents, and so on).
How to write a letter of agreement and manage a doc project.
In other words, all that stuff we do all the time and write about here on
techwr-l.
Note: I did search the techwr-l archives for "textbook" and "teaching," but
didn't get what I hoped for. I remember seeing some books recommended some time
ago, but that was long before I realized the topic would have meaning for me
:^)
I can offer two recommendations of my own:
A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker, Bedford Books/St. Martin's Press, 1993,
ISBN 0-312-08380-7. This is the "textbook" I chose for now (my contract got
signed Tues and classes start next Thurs). It's a skinny 140-page handbook with
sections on clarity, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and documentation (i.e.,
citing sources).
A Collection of Teaching Tips, ed. Meg Morgan, John McNair, and Deborah Bosley,
STC, 1994. This is an excellent 100-page compilation of tech writing teachers'
tip, including eye-opening, hands-on exercises to spring on unsuspecting
students. Many of the tips teach students how to collaborate; Bosley includes a
piece on grading collaborative work as well.
Thanks in advance for your help.
--Susan Fowler
new (and scared) adjunct professor at
Fairleigh-Dickinson University, Teaneck
sfowler -at- ejv -dot- com
