How-To Guides:

Written By Nora Bell

Meta-Introduction:
The purpose of this website is to serve as an explaination of and guide to creating How-To guides. In general, How-To guides stand in contrast to technical instruction manuals and tutorials. While they share many aspects in their guiding nature, the goal of a How-To is more general and is designed for someone with relevant expertise. A How-To guide is not meant to be a step-by-step walkthrough, but instead offers pointers and guidance. ^[1]
According to USNH Technical Writing Essentials Ch7.7 writers should avoid the passive voice in instructional-type documents and address the reader directly, as such “you” language will be used throughout. ^[2]

Introduction

Writing a How-To guide can be a rewarding way to learn or share a new method or process. In the following pages we will discuss an overview of how to produce How-To guides. This guide is intended for experienced technical writers, but may be helpful to writers of any level. This guide is broken into small sections to reduce information overload; when you complete a section click on the “Next Page” link to continue.