Customer Reviews

Technical Writing For Dummies

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

 

 

As an experienced technical writer already, I bought this book as a general desk reference. It has been a helpful guide when I needed to check something in particular, but I would not use it as a "course textbook" if I was learning the trade.

Generally, the content is excellent - it covers all the basics a novice tech writer needs to know. However, I question the way the content has been organized and presented... it doesn't follow a logical order. There's a section on editing, then a section on brainstorming and figuring out how to start writing, and then later on it swings back to proofreading. Ideally, the information should be presented the same way the writing process generally works: brainstorming, writing the first draft, THEN proofing/editing, and so on.

I also found the short section on "preparing the technical brief" inadequate, considering planning and scoping out requirements is THE most important phase of any documentation project. And for some reason, this information is buried in the "understanding your reader" section, when it should be a separate section all its own (as information about your audience forms only PART of a project plan).

The author has included a few too many personal experiences in this book - understandably she wanted to inject some fun into what could be pretty dry reading material, but her style sometimes comes off as too "cute".

Overall, this book contains a lot of excellent content - the structure and presentation just need to be re-tooled for maximum effectiveness.

From the Introduction to the Appendixes in the back, the author covers a lot of different and important topics about the business of Technical Writing with this book. Pointing out that all of us deal with various kinds of "manuals" in our everyday lives, the author builds on that as she discusses knowing your audience (including filling out a "technical brief"), creating a document plan and outline (an excellent first step in any document creation), creating your draft, visualizing the document layout, and stressing the idea to keep your documents concise and to the point. I liked that especially, considering how many manuals I've read that were full of "gobbledgook."

There are also sections on various kinds of technical documents, including the famous "user manual," abstracts, specification sheets (with detailed explanations of the different kinds of spec sheets), giving presentations and "white papers." Also informative were chapters on doing online research (and the type of search criteria to use when doing this), computer-based and web-based training, and online help. The book also contains some excellent reference information, such as tips for getting published in a technical journal, writing a grant proposal, punctuation and grammar information (and done in a very concise way), even a short glossary of terms.

Well-written and full of excellent information for any new or "veteran" technical writer.

As any good tech author knows, a manual must be targeted to your audience, and this does just that. This is a great book to introduce a junior tech author to the concepts involved in creating good documentation. Experienced authors should look elsewhere.

I was a little skeptical about this book at first. How can you create a Dummies book on Technical Writing?. After reading the first few chapters, I realized that this book is an excellent reference for the veteran technical writer or the newbie. I've been technical writing for over five years now and I still found things in here that I did not know. Great job to the authors of this book!

This book is the best introduction to technical writing I have seen. It utilizes all the skills it teaches, which makes it easy to read and understand. If you are taking a technical writing class at school or college, this is a great book to read before you begin. If you have a technical writing background, this may not be the best text for you, but it is always a good quick reference guide to have on your shelves. Definitely a worthwhile investment.

I was greatly turned off by the amount of times the author mentioned the other books she has written. It is a given that if you enjoy a book you will naturally look for more materials by the author. She didn't need to plug her other projects in every chapter. In addition, I found some spelling errors in the book and I thought it was too verbose. There were also too many attempts at humor (and also brain teasers for some strange reason) that weren't funny or insightful to the subject at hand.

I regularly have to write short technical notes, and occasionally contribute to larger manual-writing projects. I am literate but have had no formal training in technical writing. I imagined that this book would serve as a useful tool to improve my skills in this area, and it is certainly advertised as being aimed at beginners and professionals alike.

Unfortunately, it seems to have been written for an absolute beginner; in fact, at times I thought it was written for an eight-year-old child. Near the start of the book, the author recommends that you write your name on it clearly in case the book goes missing. If this is the kind of handy hint that you find useful, then the rest of the book will not disappoint you. Throughout it is written in a condescending, overly chummy manner, as if the author is trying to get a two year old to eat a Brussels sprout. I hope I never have to wade through any technical documents written by her if this is the style she usually employs to get ideas across.

There are sections that are entirely useless and have presumably been added in to pad out the book (the useful points could certainly have been boiled down to a small pamphlet). For example, there is a lengthy chapter on 'using the internet to perform research', which roughly equates to a 'how to use google' guide. Helpful.

Ultimately, this reads like it was written to make a fast buck. I really couldn't recommend it to anyone, unless you actually are an eight-year-old child putting together a manual on building a sand castle, in which case, this book's for you. But even an eight-year-old wouldn't benefit from the bit abuot using the internet...

I'm taking an internet class in this topic and the book has been an excellent source of material to go along with it.

The title of this book should read "The Autobiography of a Technical Writer." Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts' career, although auspicious indeed, is not what I was looking for in a manual. I became so exhausted reading her personal triumphs that I decided not to become a technical writer. The book contains nothing of substance, nor does it give any pertinent information on the realities of skills necessary (less "soft skills")for a junior writer to crack the program-specific job market.

I received the book on time as promised and was able to use the information right away.