In 2019, Sibu established an editorial department. Technical editors serve community developers by writing technical information, so that everyone can learn about the world’s first-hand technical information through Sibu.
In the establishment of the editorial department, interview candidates and daily meetings of the editorial department, I often think about how to help colleagues with technical background write good articles, how to help colleagues with editing background understand the technology industry more quickly, and how to do internal training and pass Technical editors empower community technical authors...
today started with "How to write a good article" to share some personal scattered experiences about writing technical information.
Write what
- Good sources: Overseas media, Twitter, Weibo, related fields, 160dbfa617d026 Follow first-hand sources
- Good use of tools: DeepL, article search in WeChat system, Google search
Standards for good articles
The logic is clear, the point of view is clear, the content is substantial, and the presentation is accurate, allowing the target readers to quickly GET the information you deliver and gain something.
Quick writing in three steps
- material collection: search for information, and list the materials in a file
- draft outline: read through the document, quickly draft the outline according to the material (several subtitles of an article), and fill in the content of the document under several subtitles
- carefully crafted: perfected and processed the content under several sub-headings
Link 1 determines the fullness of your article, and comprehensive material collection also helps to form your personal opinion;
Link 2 determines the structure of the full text and the logical connections between different paragraphs. A clear sorting out can help your readers obtain article information more efficiently.
These two steps should be done in one go as far as possible, and focus on sorting out ideas in a short time to form an article structure. Enter the third link and then "work slowly and produce meticulous work" to consider specific words and sentences.
How to enhance the readability of the article and make the article more "dry"?
- Good at quoting data : Data is the most accurate way of expression, especially for articles with technical directions. The vague perceptual expression is far inferior to the clear data display;
- good at "visualizing" complex data and logic through charts : When data is relatively complex and diverse, it should be displayed in a visual manner as much as possible, which is more concise and clear, and allows readers to discover the connections between different data;
- Have empathy, think empathy, be good at using easy-to-understand metaphors, use knowledge that is more familiar to the target audience to express opinions ;
- Different levels of titles and directories help readers to quickly GET the article structure and core views. At present, most document tools (including SegmentFault article editors) will automatically generate directories based on titles at all levels, and relevant tools should be used;
- Term Explanation : For technical terms that are difficult to understand, a brief explanation should be given.
How do you produce "original ideas" in areas you are not familiar with?
When capturing hot events, you need to add some exclusive content or original ideas to make your article "different" and create value for readers. If you are an expert in this industry, you may wish to boldly state your views.
If you are not good at an area, there are two ways to add icing on the cake:
- Interview the parties or related persons
Example: The first Chinese Wu Sheng was elected as the new director of the Apache Software Foundation In the article, he interviewed Wu Sheng himself and the industry experts who had worked with him. This made a short message with insufficient material and richer content. - Interview with industry KOLs or quote KOL opinions
Example: In the open source ten questions, community newcomer quick start guide article quoted the views of digital industry KOLs, making the article full of dry goods and increasing credibility
Give your article an attractive headline
In many publishing channels (such as SegmentFault ), the 160dbfa617d41b thumbnail and title are the only factors that determine whether readers choose to read the full text , so the title is very important.
good title ≠ title party . For example, in the Sifu community, where everyone aims to learn communication technology, the title of UC shocking body may not only not attract attention, but also disgust the readers. Therefore, the title should mainly consider the audience, face the technical community, concisely extract the main idea of the article in the title, and keep the sense of mystery appropriately.
Get used to reading articles written by yourself (important)
Reading aloud (speaking aloud, not silently) is the best way to check for typos, fluent sentences, etc.
The process of reading aloud is also the process of reviewing the full text. Is the subject clear? Is the paragraph structure reasonable? Whether the way of expression matches the reading habits of the target audience, etc.
In addition, articles with a good reading experience must also be "readable", catchy, decently expressed, and easy to understand .
About the document layout specification
Suggested reference: https://open.leancloud.cn/copywriting-style-guide/
pays attention to details , pay attention to small issues such as Chinese and English spaces and correct punctuation.
Respect the original
Quote the opinions of others, refer to the articles of others, remember to indicate the source, and both are content creators. Respect for the originality of others is to respect the fruits of your labor.
The Sifu community encourages everyone to write or translate high-quality original technical articles. Everyone is welcome to actively contribute to the community. We will recommend good articles to the community homepage and request reprinting on the SegmentFault official account.
Contributions or if you ask for recommendations, you can add Miss Sifu (WeChat ID: sifou1024), some scattered writing experience, I hope it will be helpful to you, and start your technology sharing journey in the community soon!
About the author : Jiang Bo, serial entrepreneur, COO of SegmentFault, former head of Insta360 operations. He started internship in the "Phoenix Weekly" magazine in high school, and worked as an intern reporter, director, producer assistant, etc. in Southern Metropolis Daily and Guangdong Radio and Television Station. Many articles have been published in Southern Metropolis Daily and China Fortune. Published in magazines and Beijing Youth Daily.
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