This is a reading and practice group, not a course. Each post covers one topic — craft, tools, process, career, etc. — and ends with an exercise you can work through. As articles are added, you can work through them in any order.
The articles aren’t exhaustive. They’re designed and written to give you a starting point.
I’m also including references for further exploration with the articles.
Two posts per week (sometimes three), starting Monday, July 6. New and working writers both welcome.
I am posting the articles to my “The Way We Write Now” Substack. It’s free; there is no subscription or pledge fee.
Articles begin Monday, July 6. Follow along using the button here, and bookmark this page for the link to each article as they go live.
Follow Along →NOTE! On the Subscription page, please click “No Pledge” if you see it!
Phase 1: Foundation Weeks 1–3
Week 1: What the Job Is
- 1A: What Technical Writers Actually Do (July 6)
- 1B: Mastering Audience Analysis (July 9)
Week 2: Writing Craft
- 2A: Writing for the F-Pattern (July 13)
- 2B: Plain Language Is Not Dumbing Down (July 16)
Week 3: Editing
- 3A: The Three Tiers of Editing (July 20)
- 3B: The Passive Voice Myth (July 23)
Phase 2: Working with People & Structure Weeks 4–5
Week 4: Working with People
- 4A: The Psychology of the SME (coming July 27)
- 4B: Review and Approval Workflows (coming July 30)
Week 5: Content Structure
- 5A: Documentation Frameworks: A Field Guide (coming August 3)
- 5B: Stop the Sprawl: Information Architecture (coming August 7)
- 5C: Metadata and Taxonomy (coming August 10)
Phase 3: Content Types — What You Produce Weeks 6–9
Week 6: API Documentation
- 6A: API Docs 101: Demystifying REST (coming August 13)
- 6B: Beyond REST: OpenAPI and Swagger (coming August 17)
Week 7: Developer Documentation
- 7A: From Git Commits to Release Notes (coming August 20)
- 7B: Code Samples and Code Comments (coming August 24)
Week 8: UX Writing & Accessibility
- 8A: Words in the Machine: Intro to UX Writing (coming August 27)
- 8B: Writing for Everyone: Accessibility (coming August 31)
Week 9: Visual Communication
- 9A: Visuals That Work (and Don’t) (coming September 3)
- 9B: Diagrams as Code: Mermaid & Draw.io (coming September 7)
Phase 4: The Modern Toolchain Weeks 10–11
Week 10: Authoring Environments
- 10A: The Shift to Docs-as-Code (coming September 10)
- 10B: Choosing Your Authoring Environment (coming September 14)
Week 11: Style & Automation
- 11A: Enforcing Style Guides Without Being a Cop (coming September 17)
- 11B: Automated Linting and Consistency Checking (coming September 21)
Phase 5: Scale & Strategy Weeks 12–13
Week 12: Scalable Documentation
- 12A: Write Once, Publish Everywhere (coming September 24)
- 12B: Modular Docs and the Philosophy of DITA (coming September 28)
Week 13: Global Strategy
- 13A: Writing for Translation and Localization (coming October 1)
- 13B: The Technical Writer as Strategist (coming October 5)
Phase 6: AI Week 14
Week 14: AI as Tool and Subject
- 14A: The Writer as Context Owner (coming October 8)
- 14B: Prompt Engineering for Tech Writers (coming October 12)
- 14C: Documenting AI and Non-Deterministic Software (coming October 15)
Phase 7: Process, Metrics & Maintenance Weeks 15–16
Week 15: Agile & Task Management
- 15A: Surviving the Two-Week Sprint (coming October 19)
- 15B: Task Management and Ticket Systems (coming October 22)
Week 16: Metrics & Maintenance
- 16A: Proving Your Worth: Documentation Metrics (coming October 26)
- 16B: The Art of Deleting: Content Audits (coming October 29)
Phase 8: Career Week 17
Week 17: Career Development
- 17A: Building the NDA-Proof Portfolio (coming November 2)
- 17B: Contracting vs. Full-Time (coming November 5)