Use process narratives to instruct.
For guidelines on designing your own documents, see Chapter 21.
Unlike explanatory process narratives, instructional process narratives must include all of the information a reader needs to perform the procedure presented. Depending on the reader’s experience, the writer might need to define technical terms, list tools that should be used, give background information, and account for alternatives or possible problems.
Figure 14.3 presents a detailed instructional process narrative from the Sunset Home Repair Handbook, which gives readers directions for replacing a broken plug in the graphics labeled “Replacing a plug with terminal screws” and “Replacing three special types of plugs.” The first of these graphics includes four steps that are clearly numbered, illustrated, and narrated. Each step presents several actions to be taken, and its graphic shows what the plug should look like when these actions have been completed. We can identify the actions by looking at the verbs. Step 1 in “Replacing a plug with terminal screws,” for example, instructs readers to take four separate actions, each signaled by the verb (italicized here): “Unscrew and remove the new plug’s insulating barrier. Using a utility knife, split the end of the cord to separate the wires; push the cord through the plug body.” These are active verbs, and the sentences are in the form of clear and efficient commands. The anonymous authors do not assume that readers know very much, as they label every element of each drawing, including the screws.
EXERCISE 14.9
Write a one- to two-page instructional process narrative that tells readers how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or perform some other equally simple procedure, such as logging on to the Internet, hemming a pair of pants, potting a plant, or filling a fountain pen. Address your narrative to readers who have never done the procedure before.