Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I saw the title "Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing," I wasn't sure what to think. Then I sat down and skimmed through some of the chapters and became more intrigued. The more I read of this book, the more impressed I was. The authors have written an excellent guide to the field of technical writing.

They cover a wide variety of topics in this book, all of them quite important to know about. I've been a tech writer for years and I don't recall reading a book about technical writing that covered so many different areas so succinctly as this one does.

Among the topics covered in the book are "what it takes to be a technical writer," how to get your first "big break," the process involved in organizing and writing a manual, how to "schedule" writing projects, gathering and organizing the information, the different types of manuals a tech writer is expected to write, indexing, even a few tips on writing.

There's a "dark side" to tech writing as well (long hours at times) and the authors deal with this as well. I feel this book is invaluable to anyone considering a career change to tech writing, but even "vets" like myself will find many items of value here.

When I read "... Technical Writing" by Van Laan and Julian, I was glad I got past the title. I had to hire a tech writer to get some manuals done for our product. This book gave me the knowlege and confidence I needed to successfully get the job done.

Having read the book, I knew what to look for when interviewing candidates, and what to expect once I got someone on board. Highly recommended for anyone associated with Technical Writing, whether a seasoned writer, a tech writer wannabe, or a manager of writers (or manager wannabe, like I was).

I've always had a love for writing (fiction and nonfiction alike) but have always struggled a bit while creating technical documentation. I've been interested in technical writing and feel it would be a good addition to my repertoire of skills, which is why I wanted to find and read a good book on technical writing.

Based on many positive reviews here and on recommendations from others, I decided to start with this book and one other reference manual. I quickly read this book cover-to-cover and was very satisfied by its content. It was very thorough on covering every aspect of technical writing, even giving a glimpse of what a technical writer's daily life.

And the results? I've written two technical documents since which have both won high praise by co-workers. Even **I** am shocked at how well they look and how fluidly they read.

If you are interested in technical writing at all, don't hesitate to pick this book up. It is a great read and a fantastic reference manual for those who are just starting to get their feet wet. This book is highly recommended towards any technical writing beginner.

Don't let the name fool you: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing" is anything but idiotic. The book offers a sensible, concise summary of the realities of tech-writing, and is peppered throughout with useful quotes from practicing technical writers.

I've given my copy to several people who have expressed an interest in technical writing, and all of them have found that the book answers their questions about what the profession is about. Probably no book can completely prepare anyone for a career, but, after reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing, wannabes will have a solid idea of what to expect.

The book might be especially useful to anyone teaching an introductory technical writing course.

I highly recommend The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing, will continue to do so.

There's a lot of excellent information in here on finding, learning, understanding, and keeping a job as a technical writer. There's information on typical tasks associated with tech writer jobs, attributes common to good tech writers, breaking into the field (samples, writing tests, portfolios, degrees, recruiters, interview tips, networking), and the characteristics of a good technical document. The book goes into usability issues, completeness, consistency, and more. It guides you through five steps to creating a technical document, and introduces you to the idea that a lot of your time won't be spent writing at all--it'll be spent talking to people, using the products you're writing about, collecting information, revising, and so on.

This book puts a great emphasis on communicating with others--much more so than I was expecting. The authors point out that it's often the tech writer who ends up acting as a go-between for the engineers and other departments. It's the tech writer who has to get information out of everyone about deadlines, program features, and more. It's the tech writer who has to know how to gracefully encourage and handle feedback on her drafts and shepherd people into giving her that feedback on schedule. The tech writer's job can require a surprising amount of tact and people skill.

This book includes information on elements of English language usage that will make your documents clearer and easier to understand. A user's manual must convey different information in different ways than, say, an academic treatise, a novel, or a pamphlet does. You'll find information on indexing, active vs. passive voice, punctuation, humor, paragraph length, tense, person, figures and tables, and "simplified English." Much of the information here would be helpful to nonfiction writers of all kinds, not just tech writers.

My only negatives regarding this book stem from a semi-blind optimism on the part of the authors; they seem to think the positive state of things like the market for tech writers will last for the foreseeable future. I think a few too many of their assumptions were overly hopeful, and because of this an unwary reader could get a skewed perspective of the job. However, I think the advice in areas such as document design, discipline, job skills, people-management and so on more than makes up for these flaws. This is a valuable resource for someone interested in entering the field as a technical writer. Consider my "real" rating to be 4.5.

This book is compulsory reading for everyone planning a career as a technical writer. Written by authors who have both been working in the field since the 80s, it covers the whole subject area: from how to get started and marketing yourself, to what tech writers actually do and the various documents they produce, to working as a consultant and how to deal with the difficult bits of being a tech writer. The book contains an enormous amount of information and is very clearly arranged into appropriate sections: I personally was very impressed by the way the authors explain the whole process of producing a technical document from the concept stage to the finished guide and all the things that need to be taken into consideration. They also offer advice about the sort of personality and skills you need to be a successful technical writer, what technical tools you need to master and how you can best deal with all the various people you depend on to provide information for your documentation. All in all, I would say this book is a brilliant guide to its subject and also an entertaining read. It would be very hard to improve on this!

This book shoots straight and gives would be tech writers valuable insights. There are numerous practical tips and real-world advice on how to cope with technical publications work.

I particularly appreciate how the authors stressed the importance of content. Most technical writing books focus on processes, tools, and design issues - all of which are of marginal impact on the overall value of a document. The real value of technical docs is in the content, and this book encourages writers to learn and master the technologies and concepts they are documenting.

I highly recommend this book to anybody getting started in technical writing.

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing" is an excellent resource for communication managers and writers in all fields - while aimed specifically at technical writers, much of the book deals directly with the issues confronting project managers and writers across the communications spectrum. The advice concerning writing clearly, scheduling, managing the project, and document design, particularly in Parts 3 and 4, are practical, loaded with useful tips, concise, and readable. This book has a permanent place among the resources on my desk and I find I refer to it at least weekly - it is indispensable.

This is one of the best books on the field I have seen. It serves as a excellent overview of almost anything you need to know about the field, and its processes. I am finding it incredibly useful as a writer who is managing his first technical documentation project. In addition, the great page layout and font choices of this book is even more attractive than the "Dummies" series, making it an easy and quick read. This is important for anyone who is learning on the fly and on the job.

Or anywhere else for that matter. Like all the books for "Idiots", this one is super. Great info delivered painlessly. I found this helpful for all kinds of writing, and have even used it in the classes I teach for social services clients who need to learn marketable skills. If ya gotta write somethin', try it, you might like it!