One of my favorite tech writing tips came from an email exchange with Owen Linzmayer, the author of Apple Confidential (No Starch Press):<p>"The most important thing to remember about technical writing is that the goal is not necessarily to be understood, but rather to avoid misunderstanding. As such, consistency and clarity are paramount, and you should never assume your reader has the knowledge you possess.<p>"I try to make sure to tell readers not only how to do something, but why. That way they are not just following instructions and learning by rote, but rather, they're building their understanding of the system you're explaining, and perhaps can devise solutions to problems you haven't
covered."
I wrote a detailed post[0] (also on dev.to) about how to write technical posts. Submitted it earlier today but didnt hit the front page. Hope you find it useful. Feel free to ask questions.<p>[0] <a href="https://dev.to/yelluw/how-to-do-technical-blogging" rel="nofollow">https://dev.to/yelluw/how-to-do-technical-blogging</a>
I received some feedback from a coworker about some of my writing to avoid the passive voice. I'm not sure where I developed my passive voice habit (maybe in my Chem 101 lab reports?) but it's been a hard one to break.<p>Is active voice always better?