English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

For my Instructions Project, I plan to create instructions on how to create a master page in Adobe InDesign. I will most likely create a sample master page to construct in the instructions (i.e., a tutorial) for a typical book or catalog layout. I have used master pages in InDesign for projects both in class and in internships. I have found master pages to be very useful when working with a longer document that has a standard layout for most pages.

The process that I am choosing for the project is creating a regulation set of cornhole(bags for most people) boxes. A lot of people create a different selection of cornhole boxes. Some create collapsible sets that are ideal for tailgating, or others create full size regulation boxes that are suited for legal game play. Cornhole has become a craze in many states and is very similar to horseshoes. This activity seems easy but can be challenging with expert opponents. I chose this process for this project because most builders do not take into considerations the rules and regulations.

My new project will be detailed instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble two different types of firearms. I am using two different guns to display instructions for a beginner type and an expert type person who needs to know how to take apart a gun for cleaning. For my novice instructions, I will be demonstrating how to take apart a Remington 870 Express 12 gauge shotgun. I chose to use the shotgun for the beginners because it is a little easier and has fewer parts, which makes it better for novice users.

I have a lot of personal experience with reading and writing instructions. I do a lot of things with computers and I very often times have to read instructions on how to accomplish something. Often times, my friends ask me for help with their computer over the phone or IM and I have to give them instructions on how to fix their computer. This reminds me of a scene from the show The IT Crowd. You can watch the episode here:

http://www.channel4.com/video/the-it-crowd/series-1/episode-1/customer-s...

After reading through all the resources about there was one thing that I noticed, I never knew that there was so much that went into creating a set of instructions for a product someone is trying to sell. I have always had an idea of what needs to be included in a set of instructions but never knew that writing a set of instructions was so involved. Chapter 19 goes into a great deal of depth in explaining how to write one's instructions. The bulk of this information deals with how to organize information while writing instructions.

While I was reading through the material for this week, I mostly tried to relate by thinking about how I use instructions and what what I look for.

It seems that, by now, the importance of considering the audience is somewhat cliché. Of course this is the theme of these chapters which plays into how one plans these sorts of documents. The readings discuss the vital role of researching even things that seem, to the advanced user, benign or irrelevant. Figure 20.5 may be excessive for some applications, but it does a good job at expressing many of the points for consideration when formulating a set of instructions.

Within Chapter 19, Chapter 20, and the Instructor Blog #4 there was a lot of very interesting information introduced. The task of writing instructions is almost spelled out into an art. Similarly as writing a normal technical document, Chapter 20 explains that while writing instructions a writer has to think of the primary, secondary, tertiary, and gatekeepers of the document. Also the writer has to think about what is offensive to other cultures when writing the document.

After finishing this week’s readings, I had a hard time trying to figure out the real importance of Chapter 19 about technical descriptions in relation to instructions. It came to me that instructions are really descriptions of a process. Even with this I think Chapter 20 did a great job of underlining steps and process for good instructional writing. One thing Chapter 20 mentioned to do is to provide feedback throughout the process to ensure the reader they are doing everything correctly.

This week’s reading provided plenty of good insight into creating technical descriptions and instructions. Chapter 19 focused on creating technical descriptions while the others readings focused on creating instructions. While some of the reading was very similar to concepts read in other readings, there was plenty of good advice given.