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Sparkle (1)
Writing a good how-to article is harder than most people think. I know this, because most of the how-to articles I come across on the internet are down-right terrible. They often assume a level of expertise that the reader does not possess or neglect to mention entire steps that would get the reader from step three to step four without causing them to rip out handfuls of hair. My how-tos, though, are quite fantastic, and I am here to tell you how to do it, so that when you decide to share your knowledge with the world, you can do it better than everyone else.
That's right. This is a how-to article about how to write a how-to. It's so meta that it's like looking into one of those three-way mirrors where you can see an infinite number of reflections of yourself, except this is much more useful and distilled down from infinity into 12 helpful steps:
1. Pick a topic that you actually have an interest in and know quite a bit about.
The quality of your how-to begins here. If you are bored and uninterested, your how-to is likely going to be a lackluster and error-ridden affair.
2. Give your how-to a clear, descriptive title.
You could call your how-to "I Know How to Do Something, So Let Me Show You It", but if you want people to understand what your article is about, know if it will be useful to them, and be able to find it using a search on Google, you will want to use keywords specific to the how-to like I did for this article, for example: "12 Steps to Writing a Better How-To Article".
3. Write an introductory overview.
Start the how-to with an introductory paragraph or two that explains why you are writing the how-to, what the how-to is about, and who it is geared toward. If you take a look at the beginning of this article, for instance, you will see that I am writing this to help put an end to bad how-tos, it is about how to write a better how-to, and it is geared toward the how-to writer. Bases? Covered.
4. Add a list of supplies and prerequisites, if needed.
If your how-to is about how to bake a cake, it only makes sense to include a list of the necessary ingredients and the tools needed. If you are writing a how-to about how to photoshop your head onto the body of Mariah Carey, make sure to mention which version of Photoshop you are using. This way your readers won't find themselves halfway through the how-to before they find out that they don't have what they need to continue.
Also, if your how-to relies on the reader having a certain level of prior knowledge, direct them to a previous article or how-to that will bring them up to speed and keep them from becoming frustrated with your instructions.
5. Scanability is key to a functional how-to.
When a reader reads a how-to, they look away frequently as they follow the instructions. This makes it important to create an easily scanable document to help them keep track of where they are:
- Organize the steps into a numbered list.
- Each step should include only one activity to avoid confusing the reader.
- Leave a blank line between steps. Whitespace between steps makes it easier for a reader's eyes to keep their place on the page.
- Use shorter paragraphs. This is a good rule to follow in general when writing on the internet. Readers' eyes have a difficult time tracking through long blocks of text.
6. Keep the language simple and to the point.
You could write "Each step should be about only one activity, because people can concentrate on your how-to only so much when they are also trying to do what you are saying, and I totally get that, because my brain wanders all over the place all the time."
Don't write that in a how-to if you want to be clear and easy to follow. Instead, just say "Each step should include only one activity to avoid confusing the reader."
7. Remember to write from the perspective of someone who has never done what you are describing.
You have probably done the activity described in the how-to one hundred times, but the person following along has likely never done it before. If you forget to mention to hit the save button or to leave the dough to
