Posts by Monica Cellio
Here's what we do for that. It's not cloud-based, but it is source-control-backed, like (I hope) your code already is. Tools and technologies involved: source control DocBook DTD your favorite ...
I think you're being tripped up by some mistaken impressions. First, you suggest that ungrammatical and/or persuasive writing is "creative". Maybe some of it is, but that's hardly the definition ...
Elves and dwarves are all over fantasy fiction. Here's one compilation found by Googling "fantasy novels with elves". They are generic mythological creatures. If anything these tropes are overus...
While it's possible to expand a short story into a novel (c.f. Ender's Game), what seems more common in my experience (citation needed) is for the short story to become one part of a larger novel. ...
As this answer says, it's important to state your assumptions, whatever they are. Sometimes there just isn't enough data, though, and I understand your question to be about what to do in that case...
The main challenge of having multiple writers is dealing with conflicts -- either you have to lock files to prevent concurrent edits (as Word does), or you need a way to compare and merge changes. ...
I've written manuals under a Scrum process, so I'll describe what worked for my team. I'm going to treat your task as if you're writing a new book. From your description, you'd be replacing the va...
What goes into your index will be defined by your readers' needs. How will they use your book? Will they come in with knowledge of (and vocabulary from) a related subject? Are they experts or no...
Programmers can write comments in code that can be automatically turned into API documentation (like Javadoc). All I have to do is add some comments explaining what a class or method does and what...
There is no way to absolutely prevent lawsuits; if you're going to cover controversial topics and name names, there's a risk that people will get upset and seek to take action. But there are some ...
Let's break down your illustrative sentence: Users can delete Servers This statement describes a capability -- users can perform this action. I'm hard-pressed to imagine how a different ten...
In the absence of a style guide saying otherwise, your approach is fine. (So is abbreviating to "Fig.", though I prefer to spend the extra three letters and use the full word. It's also consisten...
Each of our software releases is accompanied by a set of release notes, which include short descriptions of the following: new features, important or breaking changes to old features, and important...
Any single-sourcing scheme is going to require some up-front setup in exchange for easier generation of multiple formats later. This Wikipedia page provides a starting point for process and tools.
Since you're a software developer, I encourage you to think about the book the way you think about a significant application. You (probably) don't just start writing code; you do some requirements...
Does the publication in question have relevant style guidelines? (I'm assuming not or you wouldn't be asking here.) In your proposed solution, you are using both formatting and (initial) explicit...
First off, if you're writing for the government they might have a format they expect, so if so and it says something on this point, it wins. Otherwise, I would not use colons in any of your titles...
One approach would be to record your story-telling sessions, particularly in a way that captures his reactions. You could then review those recordings to see what worked and what didn't (e.g. you ...
I'm answering this as a technical writer but I don't have translation experience so can't address any aspects specific to that. Many of the habits that (I hope) you already have as a software deve...
A good SDK (software development kit) includes plenty of well-documented examples. It also includes good tutorials and developer guides, which introduce concepts in logical progressions, typically ...
Movies and television shows can have ensemble casts; why not books? I've seen this in SF/fantasy books where the ensemble is the members of an adventuring party, the crew of a ship, etc; often the...
Edited based on comments: Given the following function declaration: f_get_vend_code(v_nut_id varchar2) return varchar2; I would write the description as follows: This function takes a nu...
For inconsequential changes you can just edit it. For anything substantial ("I meant to say I disagree with..."), I've often seen an explicit notation: "Edited to add: ..." "Edit: ...", or the lik...
There are different kinds of technical writing, differing in the "technical" part. The logical place for you to start, coming from a programming background like I did, would be with programmer-fac...
A link to the name is generally expected to link to the person, not to an article. I generally agree with @Craig Sefton, except that I would make "claims that pigs can fly" the link and not just "...
