The IM Model of Tech Writing

Thoughts about highly-targeted information delivery.

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Duration 2:14
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Comments

Anonymous
July 18, 2007
woo hoo ROCK STAR HARRY MILLER DANCING A JIG! i'm at amazon for the summer, and they've juked me into writing sample code, Harry. it's so wrong! WANT ME SOME WRITING TASKZ!!! i used to tell my brother he'd be a better writer if each word cost a nickel. he never got the hint, though.
Anonymous
July 19, 2007
Isn't DITA a methodology that allows you to, essentially, create those little "Instant Messaging" types of content so that it could quickly be pulled out in a search.
Anonymous
July 19, 2007
I don't use DITA, but I use something very similar--we have small, self-contained topics that can each contain only one type of information, such as a task or a conceptual explanation. But inside those very structured, schema-bound containers, writers are free to organize their sentences and logic however they like. Often they'll start off with a few sentences of background information that is not really essential to know to be able to do the task, and the point comes at the end of the paragraph. By that time, our IM reader has switched windows as is poking buttons or reading e-mail. :-) So I still need to find the real Instant Message at the end of the paragraph (or even later), and move it right up to the top, and then either delete the non-essential information or move it somewhere more appropriate.