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Selecting a Topic for your Instructions Project

Hi all,

In corresponding with students since class, I think I've come up with a sense of what directions your instructions projects could take.

The actual written procedures are only one part of a set of instructions, and while they are the first thing one thinks of when you think of instructions, they are not the only thing to focus on in writing instructions. Remember, instructions are made of the following three genres:

  1. Technical Description - an attempt to define and describe elements of the task accurately
  2. Process Description - an attempt to provide an overview and understanding of a whole process from a third-person point of view
  3. Procedures - an attempt to provide steps that a a user can follow to complete a task
You should feel free to develop projects that include all of these genres, but which emphasize one over the other. So, for instance, a recipe or a set of instructions giving you steps to fix a flat tire will focus mostly on the procedures themselves. Instructions for how to get out of jury duty, on the other hand, may focus more on describing the roles of the various officers and institutions involved. Instructions for how to choose a graduate program may focus more on the helping readers understand the overall process.

So, you shouldn't feel badly if the instructions you want to write don't focus solely on step-by-step procedures. There is a lot of macro- and micro-knowledge that readers often need to complete a task. Your main goal should be to find something that provides you with an appropriate challenge and which you feel has a legitimate audience. Without these two things, it will be hard to see yourself as creating something of value, and difficult to make decisions based on what the audience needs.

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