The primary task of technical writers is to write. However, technical communication encompasses many fields of expertise. One field that technical writers should be familiar with is visual design, also referred to as visual communication design.
Minimalist Principles Articles
Principle Seven: Communicate Visually
Principle Six: Organize Information Logically
Unstructured text typically consists of one paragraph after another, maybe with a randomly formulated title here and there. Information presented in this way is monotonous and visually unappealing.
Principle Five: Negate with Purpose
Writers in marketing communications know that it pays to adopt a positive tone of voice. Unlike marketing content writers, software developers are often better at criticizing their work than extolling the virtues of their products.
Principle Four: Choose Verbs with Care
This article is part of a series of articles entitled 10 Minimalist Principles for Good Technical Writing. Broadly speaking, minimalism is any style or technique that is characterized by an extreme reduction to necessities and radical simplification. A minimalist is a person who strives to restrict the means and ends required to achieve a goal […]
Principle Three: Use Active Voice
This article is part of a series of articles entitled 10 Minimalist Principles for Good Technical Writing. Broadly speaking, minimalism is any style or technique that is characterized by an extreme reduction to necessities and radical simplification. A minimalist is a person who strives to restrict the means and ends required to achieve a goal […]
Principle Two: Use Parallelism
This article is part of a series of articles entitled 10 Minimalist Principles for Good Technical Writing. Broadly speaking, minimalism is any style or technique that is characterized by an extreme reduction to necessities and radical simplification. A minimalist is a person who strives to restrict the means and ends required to achieve a goal […]
Principle One: Keep sentences simple
This article is part of a series of articles entitled 10 Minimalist Principles for Good Technical Writing. Broadly speaking, minimalism is any style or technique that is characterized by an extreme reduction to necessities and radical simplification. A minimalist is a person who strives to restrict the means and ends required to achieve a goal […]
When More Is Less and Less Is More
Broadly speaking, minimalism is any style or technique that is characterized by an extreme reduction to necessities and radical simplification. A minimalist is a person who strives to restrict the means and ends required to achieve a goal to a minimum. Applying minimalist principles to writing can support the key objective of technical communication: to […]