One needs to master the mechanical aspects of technical writing as well. A technical writer must have the necessary linguistic and software skills to package information well.
But I wish there wasn’t anything else to technical documentation. The hardest part comes before one even sits down in front of a computer to type the first word.
The hardest part in documenting anything is organizing the information in a way that makes sense from the user’s point of view. Otherwise people would have no use for technical documents in their lives.
If, for example, you are documenting a software package, are you going to introduce installation first, configuration next, and operation the last?
Or are you perhaps going to present the information in terms of the sites where the software is installed?
If you are writing a manual about cats, are you going to introduce them according to their fur thickness?
Richard Saul Wurman, a legendary technical communicator who has written extensively about the issue, has introduced the LATCH method, an acronym made up of the first letters of the following 5 information organization principles:
1) Location
2) Alphabet
3) Time
4) Category
5) Hierarchy
Wurman claims that ANY INFORMATION can be categorized neatly along these 5 dimensions and he may be right about that. It’s a great tool to use when you are trying to decide how to make sense of any subject matter.
For example, if you’re writing a City Guide, you can of course use L (Location) easily and divide the guide into districts, neighborhoods, etc.
Once you do that, you can switch to T (Time) perhaps and talk about what is “old and historic” and what’s “brand new” in every location.
How about C (Category)? “Uphill” versus “Downhill”? Or “Electoral Districts” versus “Other Districts”?
As one can image, the options are numerous.
So the next time you need to organize information, start with LATCH categories to save time and energy.
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