The risks with Technical Author certification

As part of the attempt to make technical writing similar to other professions, there have been a number of moves by different technical communication societies to introduce certification. This can be a good thing, but there are some dangers with it as well. Certification usually involves some training and a test. Students can be accredited… Read more »

Topic-based writing: what is it, and why should I care?

In this episode of the Cherryleaf Podcast, we take a look at topic-based writing. We explore: What is a topic? Features of topics Why use topics? Why not use topics? Where can you use them? What happens if you don’t use it? Tools for topic-based writing What do you need to know Interacting with others

What is topic-based authoring?

In an upcoming episode of the Cherryleaf podcast, we’ll be tackling an issue that is important to many Technical Authors: topic-based authoring. It’s something that can be tricky to explain, and there can be differences of opinions towards it. We’d like to represent the different viewpoints, particularly  towards two fundamental questions: What is topic-based authoring?… Read more »

Transcript from What’s the deal about structured content? Part 2/2

Below is a transcript of second half of our podcast episode What’s the deal about structured content? : So what’s come about is lots of different standards for the ways in which we can do structured writing. And you know the same about standards and toothbrushes? Everyone wants to use their own. No-one wants to use anybody… Read more »