technical Writing week 10

English 303WI: Technical Writing © Central Michigan University, 2016

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Week 10 Assignment: Writing Instructions, Procedures, & Policies

1. In our textbook, read “Chapter 10: Instructions, Procedures, and Policies” on pages 274 – 308.

2. At the end of this assignment sheet, read “Drafting Steps in Instructions.”

3. Do Exercise 3 on page 307. However, the instructions you choose to revise don’t need to come from

a course in your field; they can be from your work or just something you’ve come across in your

daily life.

 Make sure whatever instructions you choose are sufficiently poor to warrant revision, and by revision, I

don’t mean merely copyediting; I mean improving the design, layout, structure, illustrations, and/or

writing style. Copyedit only after the other problems have been solved.

 If you can’t find a set of poorly written and/or designed instructions fairly quickly, use the sample

instructions attached to the Week 10 Assignment in Bb. They are from http://www.slide-

lok.com/assembly/pdf/P2468.pdf, and the biggest problem is the cluttered design, as if the company was

more worried about saving on printing costs by using one page, front and back, rather than making the

instructions usable. That might be a valid concern with respect to the paper copy packaged with the

product, but for the electronic copy available on the company’s web site, printing costs are not a concern

for the company, so it shouldn’t sacrifice usability for brevity.

 Write up your “pre-writing analysis” as a 500 to 750-word memo to me, using the “Checklist for

Developing Instructions/Procedures” on page 306 to guide your analysis. If the original set of

instructions you’re revising is available online, then include a link to it in your memo. If not, then

scan the instructions and paste the images at the end of your memo.

 Be sure your memo and revised instructions incorporate all other relevant principles of ethics, readability,

document design, illustrations, etc. addressed in previous chapters.

 Proofread and edit your work carefully.

4. Save all parts of this assignment as a single MS Word file. Be sure to use the correct file name, e.g.,

JaneDoeWeek10.docx.

5. Upload your file by to the Week 10 link in the Assignments & Exams page of Bb by the due date

and time.



As I evaluate your assignment, I will ask myself the following questions:

 Have you followed the instructions in this assignment sheet, in the textbook exercise, and in the syllabus?

 Do your responses show clear evidence that you have read and understood the assigned readings?

 Do your responses conform to the criteria listed in the “Grades” section of the syllabus?

English 303WI: Technical Writing © Central Michigan University, 2016

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Drafting Steps in Instructions *

The heart of a set of instructions is the step-by-step information. Follow these six suggestions for

writing steps that are easy to understand.

1. Number the instructions. For long, complex instructions, use two-level numbering, such as a

decimal system:

1

1.1

1.2

2

2.1

2.2

etc.

If you need to present a long list of steps, group the steps logically into sets and begin each set

with a clear heading. A list of 50 steps, for example, could be divided into 6 sets of 8 or 9 steps

each.

2. Present the right amount of information in each step. Each step should define a single task the

reader can carry out easily, without having to refer back to the instructions.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

1. Mix one part cement with one part water, using

the trowel. When the mixture is a thick

consistency without any lumps bigger than a

marble, place a strip of the mixture about 1″ high

and 1″ wide along the face of the brick.

TOO LITTLE INFORMATION 1. Pick up the trowel.

RIGHT AMOUNT OF INFORMATION

1. Mix one part cement with one part water, using

the trowel, until the mixture is a thick consistency

without any lumps bigger than a marble.

2. Place a strip of the mixture about 1” high and 1”

wide along the face of the brick.

3. Use the imperative mood. The imperative mood expresses a request or a command—for example,

“Attach the red wire.” The imperative is more direct and economical than the indicative mood (“You

should attach the red wire” or “The operator should attach the red wire”). Avoid the passive voice

(“The red wire is attached”), because it can be ambiguous: is the red wire already attached?

* From Mike Markel’s Technical Communication, 11

th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015, E-Book.

English 303WI: Technical Writing © Central Michigan University, 2016

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4. Do not confuse steps and feedback statements. A step is an action that the reader is to perform.

A feedback statement describes an event that occurs in response to a step. For instance, a step

might read “Insert the disk in the drive.” That step’s feedback statement might read “The system will

now update your user information.” Do not present a feedback statement as a numbered step.

Present it as part of the step to which it refers. Some writers give all feedback statements their own

design.

5. Include graphics. When appropriate, add a photograph or a drawing to show the reader what to

do. Some activities—such as adding two drops of a reagent to a mixture—do not need an

illustration, but they might be clarified by a chart or a table.

6. Do not omit articles (a, an, the) to save space. Omitting articles can make the instructions unclear

and hard to read. In the sentence “Locate midpoint and draw line,” for example, the reader cannot

tell if “draw line” is a noun (as in “locate the draw line”) or a verb and its object (as in “draw a line”).

Instructions often conclude by stating that the reader has now completed the task or by describing

what the reader should do next. For example,

Now that you have replaced the glass and applied the glazing compound, let the window sit for at least

five days so that the glazing can cure. Then, prime and paint the window.

Some conclusions end with maintenance tips or a troubleshooting guide. A troubleshooting guide,

usually presented as a table, identifies common problems and explains how to solve them.