Want to write a great tutorial?
Writing a good tutorial is a skill worth developing. Whether you’re writing a recipe for your favorite family dish or a technical piece on building a simple app, it is important to always make sure that you are communicating clearly and effectively. In this article, i’ll explain how to write a good guide/tutorial for whatever subject matter. I personally follow the KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) method whether I’m writing a complicated technical guide or a simple “how to”. Ultimately, you should be asking yourself after writing it, “could a 5-year old follow this?”
Below i’ve outlined some key points that will guide you in creating an easy-to-follow tutorial. If I'm missing anything, feel free to add in the comments below. Enjoy!
Pick a Topic Worth Covering
Before you put in the work to create a tutorial, make sure you select a topic that people will want to read about. Your tutorial is meant to be a vehicle to teach someone how to do something, so make sure your topic of choice has an audience.
Create an Outline
A huge part of making an easy-to-follow tutorial is to have a good flow. An outline is an essential piece since it allows you to map out what you are going to discuss and what you’re going to teach your reader. This helps ensure that the flow is easy to follow for your audience. If you follow your outline, you will also be able to identify if there are gaps in your instructional content and make adjustments along the way.
Like any good story, the outline should typically have:
1. Introduction
Introduce the topic, identify what your audience should expect to learn by the end of the tutorial and get them excited and eager to get started
2. The actual instructional content
This is where you break down step-by-step what is needed to accomplish whatever task it is that you’re teaching. We’ll get more into this later in this post!
3. Conclusion/ending remarks
Time to summarize what your audience has just learned. Also great to include related links or tutorials that they might find interesting at this point to further explore whatever it is you just taught them.
Use Great Visuals
I love visuals. When used correctly they help reinforce the words on the page and let me know where in the process I should be with each step. There is a reason Ikea uses visuals for all their products (we won’t go into why there are always extra pieces).
On a high level, visuals serve these 3 basic purposes:
1.) They help users visualize what it is they should be seeing or doing at each step
2.) Allow you to illustrate points instead of writing them out in exhaustive detail
3.) They are universal. If you audience is global, visuals allow you to communicate instructions and process without the need to translate in multiple languages
If you’re doing tutorials about software, make good use of screenshots by highlighting and annotating appropriately.
Last, if you use video, make sure to take the time and do a little editing. People tend to have a short attention span so if your video can be cut from 30 minutes to 3 minutes by editing out the “inactive” parts, do it!. Video should be compelling, informative and to the point.
Great link on creating video tutorials
Proofread. Proofread. Proofread
While you are in the “writing groove”, it’s easy to overlook or miss a key step or point. When you finish writing your tutorial, take the time to proofread. Check for spelling/grammar mistakes, make sure the instructions are easy to follow, and ask yourself “does this all make sense?” Your readers will appreciate that!
Conclusion
There are new members joining the Stellar community everyday. Some of them are brand new to the space and are looking for others e to guide and educate them early on and help them avoid making beginners mistakes. Tutorials and guides are a critical part of keeping the community healthy and informed and we thank you for your effort to help put these together! They’re also a great way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise to the community, and who knows what can come from that! Hopefully this guide had a few helpful tips, we look forward to seeing your well-crafted and informative tutorial!.
Thanks,
Brian
