IntroductionIntroduction
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
- Albert Einstein
Have you ever read a set of instructions over and over without being able to understand what they were saying? Do you ever need to know how to do something, but you aren't quite sure if the steps are correct? There is probably a how-to For Dummies book on the topic. The For Dummies books are a set of instructional guides for readers who are new to the topic. There are over 1,800 different titles of the popular how-to books. According to For Dummies statistics, there are ten books sold every minute.
Writers for the books are paid anywhere from $12,000 to $40,000, plus royalties. The authors are given a how-to-write-for-us book so they know what to expect.
How-to writing is a branch of technical writing. It teaches people how to do something by listing chronological steps.
Technical writing can be
- an instructional manual for assembling a bookshelf,
- a memo listing meeting agendas,
- a letter from a teacher to a student, or
- a recommendation report proposing a new hire.
Watch Technical Material from Discovery Education.
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| Lesson Objectives |
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Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to...
The above objectives correspond with the Creative Writing Course Standards: 2, 3 and 13 |
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