English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

This week’s reading from the Thompson Handbook went into extensive detail about the process of finding and gathering research. This will certainly be the most important, and time consuming, portion of completing our white paper, so I think it’s definitely crucial that we pay particular attention to it. For our focus, we’ve decided to pursue a mainly online research approach that will involve using multiple search engines to locate the desired information.

This week, after completing the weekly readings assignments and individual tasks pertaining to white papers, I was introduced to all of my group members via email for this classes final project. We used this opportunity to brainstorm concepts and ideas for white papers that we could create, and eventually decided upon the topic of sustainable energy. Our group felt that this was a topic that we could find plenty of information and sources on, and that through our research we could eventually construct a very strong and informed white paper.

This week’s readings covered our next project’s focus, specifically white papers. As “How to Write a White Paper”, an actual white paper, explains, the purpose of a white paper is to argue a certain position, or present a solution to a problem. In “The Streak Behind The Sizzle”, another white paper written on white papers, the author notes that these technical documents are also often used to explain or elaborate on the benefits a complex product or technology might offer.

My two instruction sets describe the process of downloading, installing, and beginning usage of Full Tilt Poker software. They are both currently formatted in 8.5 x 11 inch size, but I may adjust this if necessary (and I find out how to). In both instances I chose to use a significant amount of graphics to really simplify the process and provide an aesthetically pleasing document. I also tried to balance the color usage with blue font in certain areas.

This week’s readings, chapter 12 from TCT as well as instructor’s blog 6, focus on the actual revision and editing process involved in the production of a professional technical document. This relates directly to our current project, in which we would like to create useful instructions based on a user-centered approach. From TCT, the editing process is broken down into several distinctive levels, namely revision, substantive editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Each of these levels takes into regard a different aspect of the technical document.

This week’s readings, from chapters 24 and 25 of the Thompson Handbook, cover the basics of document visuals and graphical design. In the initial reading, the author notes that good visuals serve “to inform and persuade readers” and to “add visual interest”. In some instances, these visuals can serve as standalone arguments, such as the featured illustration entitled Computer Age Ending Literature. In this example, an image of a CD slicing through a stack of books serves to persuade the reader, while the illustration title makes the message even clearer.

I have decided for this instructions project that I will describe in detail how to properly download, install, and ultimately play online poker using a program called FullTilt Poker. These instructions will include a review of the various functions within the software, including creating an account, depositing (not necessary), withdrawing, and locating players, among many other features. I feel that I am very qualified to speak on this topic as I am a frequent player, and have used the software extensively over the period of several years.