Ask HN: Best books/resources on technical writing? - _1tan
======
panorama
A friend of mine just published this[1], which is a quick read and inexpensive
(free on Kindle Unlimited apparently). I'm not sure if I'm allowed to out
where he works but he's the real deal.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Technical-Writing-
Introduction-...](http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Technical-Writing-Introduction-
Documentation-ebook/dp/B01A2QL9SS)

~~~
philippnagel
Thanks! His employer is stated on his website anyways.

------
ignoramous
See: [http://docs.writethedocs.org/book/](http://docs.writethedocs.org/book/)

HN discussion from almost a year ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8699178](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8699178)

Related: [http://docs.writethedocs.org/](http://docs.writethedocs.org/)

------
0xdeadbeefbabe
This could be a contender for best, at least, the manuals referenced here are
better than most: [http://www.helpscribe.com/2008/12/great-examples-of-
technica...](http://www.helpscribe.com/2008/12/great-examples-of-technical-
writing.html)

------
kushti
Good article + links on how to write a research paper: (Write good papers -
Daniel Lemire) [http://lemire.me/blog/rules-to-write-a-good-research-
paper/](http://lemire.me/blog/rules-to-write-a-good-research-paper/)

------
schmalliso
Someone else linked to Write the Docs, but that conference is awesome and full
of great tech writing advice.

Word Up! by Marcia Riefer Johnston ([http://www.amazon.ca/Write-Powerful-
Sentences-Paragraphs-Eve...](http://www.amazon.ca/Write-Powerful-Sentences-
Paragraphs-Everything/dp/0985820306)) is also solid for improving the quality
of your writing. The book itself is a bit… precious, though.

How to make sense of any mess by Abby Covert is great for organizing (which is
a big part of tech writing for me). Available on Amazon and now also at
[http://www.howtomakesenseofanymess.com/](http://www.howtomakesenseofanymess.com/)

------
niels_olson
* Strunk and White

* Chicago Manual of Style

* NASA Technical Report Writing (Technical Memorandum 105419 (1))

(1) A personal favorite:
[http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/1993001...](http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930013813.pdf)

~~~
oska
Geoffrey K. Pullum's anti-recommendation to Strunk and White:

[http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-
Grammar/2549...](http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-
Grammar/25497)

------
realcr
I once read a text by Steve Losh about how to write documentation, and I
learned much from it.

I'm on a device with a glass interface so it's too difficult to get the link,
but you can just google it.

~~~
philippnagel
I guess this is it: [http://stevelosh.com/blog/2013/09/teach-dont-
tell/](http://stevelosh.com/blog/2013/09/teach-dont-tell/) ?

