在Topic-Based Writing：美国老编谈心得，我列出了Utpala推荐的TBW优秀写作范本。在这一节续中，她分享了TBW的实际操作经验。有个别观点与我以往的写作观点很不同，我仍然持保留态度，今后找机会与业内人士交流。
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Do a quick audit: In your current topic/document （此处，Utpala的意图是尽快切入task主题，topic-based writing中，topic比例中要以task为主。）
- How long does it take for your reader to get to the first task?
- What is in the way?
- What can you remove?
- What is the proportion of task topics to concept and reference topics?
- Brown = task
- Blue = concept
- Green = reference
- Red = Other
- Do the majority of topics emphasize doing real work instead of knowing something about the product?
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Eliminate distracting, cumbersome introductory material. Reduce the ‘meta-text’ imposed on readers （这块是我持保留意见的，我觉得文档在注意实用性的同时，也应保持文档的全面性，我还是会在文档中保留这些信息。对于chapter-level TOC，我通常的做法是，用ordered list 将主要的task串起来，放在一章的首页。）
- About this book
- Chapter-level TOCs
- Typographical convention lists
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Remove sections dedicated to:
- Long product descriptions
- Pictures and descriptions of every button in the interface （对于那些很明显的，我同样也会选择一代而过）
- Definitions of terms and acronyms （这一块也是仁者见仁的一点。有少数入门级读者，真是抱着学习的心态在看手册（而不是在遇到操作困难时），他们希望有这样的信息）
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Emphasize tasks over concepts
- Embed necessary small concepts at the beginning of a task to provide context (这点非常赞同。小的概念放在task前面讲最合适。每个task的第一段，都是要向读者解释goal--why do i need to do this task, what benefit will I get by doing this task? 此时，正好可将small concept一并放入。）
- Refer to larger concepts elsewhere in the doc (如果概念解释内容很多，那还是另立conceptual topic合适）
- Cut concepts that are not essential to the task or goal
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Task List - Eliminate all unnecessary information
- Is the task real? Or are we representing it as a task when it is not one?
- Is the task necessary to meet customer goals?
- Is the task not obvious to customers? （对于显而易见的操作，就不用大张旗鼓把它也写成一个task啦，比如编辑/删除一条信息，如果已经把创建这条信息写成了task, 不妨把编辑与删除，以一个note的形式加在创建task的后面；或者可以直接不写。）
- Is the task a single task?
- Do customers already know how to perform the task?
- Do they already have background information?
- How critical is the consequence of failure? Provide error and recovery in another section. （这点容易忽略！是点好建议）
- Can this information be effectively transmitted in the planned media?
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