How To Structure the How To

Like emails and memos, instructions often have certain sections that keep them organized in ways an audience will be able to easily follow. Most of us think that a set of instructions is just going to be a list of steps for a reader to follow in order to do something. While the steps are obviously a part of it, they’re not usually the whole of it.

Keep in mind that not every section will appear in every set of instructions and that there might be other sections some professions might require. If you’re working in a dangerous field – think first responders, anything tied to flying an airplane, or the military – there might be expanded sections on safety protocols or equipment, for example. For our purposes, these sections will serve as guides for you to follow and give some structure to your instructions.

Introduction

The first section is the introduction which, unsurprisingly, introduces a lot of what the audience will need to know. It should outline the specific tasks that will be covered and what won’t be covered. If you’re providing instructions on how to make sourdough bread, you could use the introduction to inform the audience that you won’t be covering what to do if your starter fails or steps to make any other kind of bread.

As a writer, it might seem counterintuitive to let your audience know what you won’t be writing about, but it can be very helpful. If a user picks up a set of instructions looking for guidance on how to do a specific task – and that task isn’t included – letting them know that early on will save them time and possibly prevent them from making a significant mistake.

The intro also provides an opportunity to let the audience know what knowledge of background they might need to understand the procedure. Let me give you a really ridiculous example: a heart surgeon could post a very detailed step-by-step set of instructions on how to properly perform a heart transplant – like this one – that anyone could read. So, after reading that, your little brother or sister or weird uncle that no one likes to talk to now thinks they can successfully perform the operation.

You gonna let them do it on you?

Didn’t think so.

Without years of medical training, a thorough understanding of human anatomy and physiology and many many many hours of practice, no one should be attempting a heart transplant, even if they can read the instructions. That is the sort of knowledge and experience you’d want to let your audience know they might need.

The intro is also the place to tell the audience if/when the instructions shouldn’t be followed or used. In our heart surgery example, the doctor writing the instructions could list out the conditions or symptoms the patient might have that would make the transplant a bad idea. It’s a really great way to ensure that your audience doesn’t think the instructions are foolproof or always appropriate.

Warnings/Cautions/Dangers

Similar to the ‘don’t do this if…’ part of the introduction, this section is all about the warning signs that your audience needs to be aware of. For example, if there are some sort of significant or even dangerous consequences to not following the instructions properly, this is where the writer would tell the audience about it.

Just recently, I had to swap out a circuit breaker in my house’s electrical panel. I found both a set of written instructions and a YouTube video and both included a very specific warning: even though I had turned off the main breaker, there was still electricity coming into the panel at the top. If I didn’t follow the instructions to the letter and avoid the two wires at the top of the panel, I could electrocute myself.

Since I’m still here writing about it, I obviously followed the instructions carefully. But I’m still glad someone told me what might happen, so I could make sure it didn’t. That’s what this section is most useful for.

Technical Background

This section is most often used for sets of instructions related to specific technical applications or processes, where some technical/theoretical background knowledge might be necessary. In those cases, the information presented here would be vital to understanding the process and without it, the instructions wouldn’t make any sense.

Equipment and Supplies

This section is fairly self-explanatory: what does someone need to gather/have on hand to follow the instructions and complete the procedure? Including this information is especially important when you’re putting together instructions that can’t be interrupted. For example, if you’re writing the step-by-step instructions for underwater gold mining, making sure that the audience knows what equipment they need before they dive is a key part of the process.

Most of the time, including these items in a simple list is the best strategy. Be sure to be specific about any important details such as measurements, brands, types, or quantities.

Structure and Format

Instructions are one of the professional/technical documents that aren’t usually written out in a traditional paragraph format. Most of the time, they’re presented in a numbered step-by-step list, called fixed-order steps, but that only works if the instructions themselves are straightforward and follow that pattern. In some cases, you’ll find that you need to modify the basic numbered list to make it fit the process that the audience actually needs to do.

Here are some typical modified list formats:

• Variable-Order Steps – These are steps that can be performed in any order. If you’ve ever tried to troubleshoot a problem with a computer or television – or anything electronic – you’ve likely encountered a set of VOS. They’re often used when someone can try different things to solve an issue or follow a procedure. Presenting them as items on a bulleted list, rather than in a numbered order is usually the best choice for VOS.
• Alternate Steps – Use AS when there are two or more ways to complete the same task or when there may be variable conditions present. In the underwater mining example, if a step in the process should be completed one way in calm water but in a different way in rough seas, then it would be appropriate to use AS. Again, a bulleted list is often the best choice along with using ‘OR’ to indicate the different options.
• Nested Steps – When the instructions are naturally complex and each individual steps is also complicated all on its own, using NS is the best choice. If a step needs to be broken down into sub-steps, NS is the proper format, with sub-steps indicated by being indented from the main list and labeled with an ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, etc.

Supplementary Discussion

There are times when your audience will need more information than just the steps themselves. In some cases where the instructions are explaining how to build something, for example, it might be necessary to explain to the audience what that ‘something’ should look like before and after each of the steps. There might also be a need for further explanation of the ‘why’ behind a particular step or why a specific step is important.

When you include SD, it’s important to not let it obscure the instructions themselves. Separating the SD off from the step, bolding it, or otherwise making it stand out as different than the steps are all ways to keep that from happening.