Reading List¶

A curated collection of articles, papers, and resources organized by topic. Bookmark this page and return when you need inspiration or guidance.

Foundational Reading¶

Understanding Technical Communication¶

• "The Importance of Technical Writing" - Why documentation matters for product success
• "What Makes Technical Writing Technical?" - Defining the discipline and its boundaries
• "The Evolution of Technical Communication" - How the field has changed over decades

Writing Principles¶

• Google Developer Documentation Style Guide - Comprehensive style guidance for technical content
• Microsoft Writing Style Guide - Clear, conversational writing for technology
• Plain Language Guidelines (plainlanguage.gov) - Government standards applicable to all technical writing

API Documentation¶

Getting Started¶

• "Documenting APIs: A Guide for Technical Writers" - Tom Johnson's comprehensive course
• "Best Practices in API Documentation" - Stripe's approach to developer docs
• "API Documentation Best Practices" - Lessons from successful API documentation

OpenAPI and Specifications¶

• OpenAPI Specification - The standard for describing REST APIs
• "Writing OpenAPI Descriptions" - Practical guide to API specifications
• "API Design Patterns" - Common patterns and their documentation

Docs as Code¶

Workflow and Practices¶

• "Docs Like Code" - Anne Gentle's book on treating docs as code
• "Documentation as Code" - Implementing version control for documentation
• "CI/CD for Documentation" - Automating documentation workflows

Tools and Implementation¶

• "Static Site Generators for Documentation" - Comparing Jekyll, Hugo, MkDocs, and more
• "Git for Technical Writers" - Version control fundamentals for writers
• "Markdown for Documentation" - Best practices for Markdown in technical content

Information Architecture¶

Fundamentals¶

• "Information Architecture for the Web and Beyond" - The polar bear book essentials
• "How People Find Information" - Understanding user search behavior
• "Taxonomy and Navigation Design" - Organizing content for findability

Documentation Structure¶

• "Topic-Based Authoring" - Principles of modular content
• "DITA Best Practices" - Structured authoring guidelines
• "Every Page is Page One" - Mark Baker's approach to standalone topics

UX Writing¶

Foundations¶

• "Writing Is Designing" - Michael Metts and Andy Welfle's essential guide
• "Microcopy: The Complete Guide" - Comprehensive UX writing resource
• "The Elements of User Onboarding" - Samuel Hulick on user experience

Interface Writing¶

• "Error Message Guidelines" - Writing helpful error messages
• "Button Labels That Convert" - Action-oriented interface text
• "Empty States Design" - Writing for zero-state experiences

Content Strategy¶

Strategic Thinking¶

• "Content Strategy for the Web" - Kristina Halvorson's foundational work
• "Thinking in Systems" - Applying systems thinking to content
• "The Content Strategy Toolkit" - Practical frameworks and methods

Governance and Maintenance¶

• "Content Audits and Inventories" - Assessing existing content
• "Measuring Content Effectiveness" - Metrics and analytics for content
• "Sustainable Content" - Long-term content management

Career Development¶

Getting Started¶

• "Breaking into Technical Writing" - Paths into the profession
• "Building a Technical Writing Portfolio" - Showcasing your work
• "Technical Writing Interview Preparation" - What to expect and how to prepare

Growing Your Career¶

• "From Writer to Lead" - Advancing in documentation careers
• "The T-Shaped Technical Writer" - Balancing depth and breadth
• "Freelance Technical Writing" - Building an independent practice

Research and Studies¶

Industry Reports¶

• State of Technical Communication Survey - Annual industry benchmarks
• Developer Experience Reports - How developers use documentation
• Content Management Industry Trends - Technology and practice evolution

Academic Research¶

• "The Impact of Documentation on Software Adoption" - Measuring documentation value
• "How Developers Search for Code and Documentation" - User behavior research
• "Readability and Comprehension in Technical Documents" - Writing effectiveness studies

Domain-Specific Reading¶

Software Documentation¶

• "Software Documentation Best Practices" - Comprehensive software writing guides
• "README Driven Development" - Documentation-first approach
• "Code Comments Best Practices" - Writing effective inline documentation

Medical and Regulatory¶

• "Writing for FDA Submissions" - Regulatory documentation requirements
• "Clinical Trial Documentation" - Medical writing standards
• "Health Literacy Guidelines" - Patient-facing content principles

Financial Services¶

• "Regulatory Writing for Finance" - SEC and compliance documentation
• "Plain Language in Financial Services" - Clear communication requirements
• "Fintech Documentation Standards" - Modern financial technology writing

Online Resources¶

Blogs to Follow¶

Communities¶

• Write the Docs - writethedocs.org - Primary community for documentarians
• Technical Writing subreddit - reddit.com/r/technicalwriting - Questions and discussions
• API the Docs - apithedocs.org - API documentation community

Podcasts¶

• Write the Docs Podcast - Community discussions on documentation
• The Content Strategy Podcast - Strategic content thinking
• Hanselminutes - Technology perspectives including documentation

Building a Reading Practice¶

Weekly Reading Routine¶

Daily (10 minutes)

• Scan one industry newsletter
• Read one short article
• Save interesting content for later

Weekly (1 hour)

• Deep-read 2-3 saved articles
• Take notes on key insights
• Consider how to apply learnings

Monthly

• Review and organize saved content
• Identify knowledge gaps
• Plan targeted reading

Organizing Your Reading¶

Use a system to capture and organize what you read:

1. Capture - Save articles when you find them
2. Categorize - Tag by topic for later retrieval
3. Summarize - Write brief notes on key points
4. Apply - Connect readings to your work

Recommended Tools¶

• Pocket or Instapaper for saving articles
• Notion or Obsidian for organized notes
• RSS readers for following blogs
• Newsletter aggregators for email management

Contributing¶

Found a resource that should be on this list? Share it with the technical writing community through Write the Docs or other professional channels.