So, you’re thinking about writing a technical article. You know, one of those articles with step by step instructions for doing some kind of a process. Well, these articles can actually be quite dull if you stick to the standard step one, step two format. It’s kind of like trying to get excited reading a cook book. So, what I am going to do in this article is give you some tips to make those technical articles not so boring.

Sticking with the same step by step format, the first thing you want to do is give your reader the step. You want to make sure that you’ve outlined it as clearly as possible. There should be absolutely no question as to what they’re supposed to do. Too many step by step guides leave out important information that leads to a person standing over a sink with a screwdriver, not having a clue what to do with it. Okay, be clear.

Here is where we start to put some life into the article. After detailing the step itself, the next thing you want to do is point out something to look for that will make the process go a little better. For example, let’s say you’re writing a step by step guide on how to play Sim City 4. Step one might be to choose a city within your region. That step alone is simple, on the surface, but adding something like, “You probably want to start with a city size that is small to begin with if this is your first one. They’re easier to manage and will give you some good experience that you can use towards building larger cities.”

While the above explanation is not crucial to the actual step itself (choosing a city) it will help the person’s game experience because it’s adding a tip to the step. The more of these you add, the more valuable each step in itself becomes.

In addition to giving tips on what TO do, you might then want to include a warning under each step on something that they should be careful of. For example, let’s say we’re writing an article that’s a step by step set of instructions on formatting a CD. Step one might be as simple as “Open up the CD drive and put the CD in.” But unless somebody knows what the part of the CD is that has to be written to, they may end up putting it in upside down. Therefore, you might want to add something under the step like, “Be careful not to put the CD in upside down. The blue side should be face down when putting the CD in the drive.”

Finally, you might want to include your own experience with each step, especially if it’s a step that lends itself to being expanded upon. For example, let’s say you’re writing a step by step guide on microwaving chicken nuggets. You might want to add something like, “My experience has shown me that when the package says 2 minutes on high, most microwaves, especially as they get older, take a little more time. So you might want to try 2 and a half minutes.”

Adding a personal touch to the article will go a long way to keeping the reader’s attention.

There you have it…three simple tips that should help turn your dull technical article into a work of art…or close to it anyway.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html – This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.