How to Write a "How To" Guide

Writing a "how to" guide can be a difficult and time consuming process. However, with the right education and knowledge base it can become as easy as milking a cow.

The first thing you need to do before writing a "how to" guide is to choose something to write about. Believe it or not this is often the most difficult part. You must decide upon something that is important, meaningful, or otherwise special to you in some way that you think someone else might enjoy reading and learning how to do.

You must then make a list of what it takes to accomplish the task or goal that you have set out to explain. Sometimes it is worth making the assumption that your reader is so foreign to the topic that everything needs to be explained in minute detail (for example in "how to" guide #15 on "how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich" I explained to my reader how to properly take the lid off of a peanut butter jar.)

Once you have established everything that it takes to complete your task, you must put the items in order from first to last and proceed to read through them once again while going through the motions in your head and making sure that, by following your directions to the letter, your cow is milked, your sandwich made, or your picture colored.

Once you have done that and you are sure your list makes sense (if it does not then you must continue to add to your list until it does) you should turn each step into a full bodied sentence or short paragraph- instead of saying "pick up the pencil," Say, "With your thumb and forefinger, lift the pen or pencil of your choosing and proceed to touch the point of said utensil to the area you wish to add to."

You should then string the sentences together using words like "then" and "next" until you have a complete "how to" guide. This does not mean that your "how to" guide is ready for publishing. It means that you can now go through and edit your "how to" guide, changing the parts you don't like and making the parts you do like even better with extravagant words such as extravagant.

Once you have done that and made all the necessary changes, you would be well advised to make a copy of your guide and give it to a trusted friend who knows a thing or two about English and ask him or her if they could please read through the paper and give you advice. Once your friend has done that and you have gone through and made most of the changes they told you to make, omitting the ones that didn't make sense or feel right, your "how to" guide should be ready to publish!