There are approximately one million words in the English language. Some writers think they should use every word only once in their document. As a fiction writer, using different words to describe the same action or item works great if you want to capture your reader s attention and draw them into the story. However, as a technical writer, your first goal is to always communicate useful information clearly. Sometimes, that means using the same word more than once in the same document.
Familiarity keeps the reader of technical documents focused.
Lean words help them understand the concept of the subject. This leaves very little room for assumption or misinterpretation that could lead to errors in performing a task. Don t distract your reader. One of the best ways to do this is to separate your instructions from paragraph form to numbered steps. For example, in the following paragraph, some of the important instructions could be lost to the reader if they were trying to follow along while creating a new folder in Microsoft Windows.