It is really, really hard to write good instructions. Often drawings are required as well as words. Sometimes drawings alone do the job. One is, must be, more acutely aware of one’s audience than almost any other kind of writing. Very often the subject of the instruction is so familiar to us that we forget to add important details. Equally, we can use our familiarity to offer helpful advice where it is needed.
Too often, in schools, instructions also make obvious how artificial, pointless even, many writing tasks can be. How many of us have written instructions on how to make a jam sandwich? Why?
I was reminded of all this recently when I decided to send a friend of mine instructions for a game of patience that I thought she might enjoy. It took me several drafts. I won’t know until I hear from her how successful I have been. I had to find some correct terminology to distinguish one pile of cards from another. I had to think about the sequence -what did she need to know first? Should extra tips come at the end or as part of the flow of instruction? And I had to think about drawings to help the words. The words alone would be hard to understand. They perhaps still are, even with my drawings!
I wrote the instructions in a concertina book made with tabs. I folded twelve sheets of paper in half and joined each one with washi tape to make the book. I made the pages the same size as the two packs of cards I am sending so it all fits together neatly.
It might be fun to write instructions for a game you play -it could be one you have invented or one that is popular at the moment. It is especially nice if you can think about who would like to receive these instructions. Believe me, it can be a frustrating process, but pleasing when it is finished.
Writing Box 