Take write for us technology from technical writing that may make your opinions clear and persuasive in the new reading environment of the net.

Print media puts the reader in the passenger’s seat. Imagine if you do not want a character to die? Imagine if you don’t just like the direction the story has had? Traditional reading is linear–you start at chapter one and you also visit the end, with no detours in between.

Instruction manuals have always been different. Who reads instruction manuals from starting to end? Instead you dip into it, try something, and if that doesn’t appear to work, flip a few pages backward or forward and try again.

Now the internet has turned into a huge manual where the reader can maneuver around at will–technology has stolen authorial control. You should expect your readers to jump around. To be successful, anything you write for the web has to follow exactly the same three rules that technical writers use:

Write in Chunks

Readers choose. Understand that your audience isn’t expecting a story–they have specific goals. Points need to be self-contained and clearly marked to greatly help them find what they’re searching for and move ahead. Respect your reader’s time–don’t make sure they are eat the sundae when all they want is the cherry.

Follow a Structure

You can structure your content by category, rank, location–but there must be a structure. By organizing your information you are giving your reader an instrument that lets them find what they’re looking for and skip what they don’t need. If you cannot find a structure that works, it is advisable to define your points more clearly.

Connect it Together

You can’t force your reader to check out the path you’ve set for them, but you can give them access to information that supports your message. Don’t be afraid to link, both to resources outside your document also to pages in it. Your role would be to help them achieve their goals; point them towards resources that help them do that.

Like technical writing, the web is approximately helping people find information. Adopt some of the principals of technical writing is likely to work to make it get results.