Below are the sections commonly found in instruction sets, descriptions of the information each section usually contains, and a few tips.

TITLE

Effective titles let the reader know exactly what the instructions are about. Titles should be clear and explicit. The two most effective title formats are:

• How To: How to Assemble the Glorious Freedom Swing Set
• Gerund: (the “ing” verb form): Assembling the Glorious Freedom Swing Set

INTRODUCTION

No heading is required for the introduction; it begins below the title. It is usually written in paragraph form and should contain any of the following that are applicable to the instruction set (not necessarily in this order):

• A general idea of the procedure and what will be accomplished
• Knowledge and background the audience needs in order to understand the instructions
• An indication of who should carry out the procedure. (Only qualified electricians should install equipment that requires a hook-up to a high-voltage line, for instance.)
• The conditions when the instructions should (or should not) be used
• An overview of the contents of the instructions

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OR THEORY

At the beginning of certain kinds of instructions (after the introduction), you may need a discussion of background related to the procedure. For certain instructions, this background is critical—otherwise, the steps in the procedure make no sense. For example, some camera instructions require a discussion of color theory.

EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

Most instructions include a list of items needed before starting the procedure. This includes equipment, tools, and supplies (such as mixing bowls, spoons, bread pans, hammers, drills, and saws), and things that are consumed in the procedure (such as flour, butter, oil, wood, paint, and nails). These typically are listed either in a simple vertical list or in a two-column list. Use a two-column list (or table) if you need to add specifications—for example, brand names, sizes, amounts, types, and so on.

THE STEPS

When writing the actual instruction steps, keep in mind:

• the structure and format of the steps
• supplementary information that might be needed
• the point of view and general writing style

Structure and format in the steps

Normally, we imagine a set of instructions formatted as vertical numbered lists, and most step-by-step instructions are formatted this way. There are some variations, however, including the following:

• Fixed-order steps are steps that must be performed in the order presented. For example, if you are changing the oil in a car, draining the oil is a step that must come before putting in the new oil. These are numbered lists (usually, vertical numbered lists).
• Variable-order steps are steps that can be performed in practically any order. Good examples are those troubleshooting guides that tell you to check this or check that when you are trying to fix something. You can do these kinds of steps in practically any order. Variable order steps can be written using a bulleted list instead of a numbered list format.
• Alternate steps are those in which two or more ways to accomplish the same thing are presented. Alternate steps are also used when various conditions might exist. Use bulleted lists with this type, inserting the word OR between the alternatives, or else use a lead-in indicating that alternative options are about to be presented.
• Nested steps list complex individual steps within a procedure or task; due to that complexity, these steps need to be broken down into sub-steps. In this case, use an additional indent for the substeps and sequence them as a, b, c, and so on.
• Stepless instructions really cannot use a numbered vertical list and do little, if any, straightforward instructional-style directing of the reader. Some situations are so generalized or variable that specific steps cannot be stated.

Supplementary information in the steps

Often, it is not enough simply to tell readers to do this or to do that. They need additional explanatory information such as how the thing should look before and after the step; why they should care about doing this step; what mechanical principle is behind what they are doing; or micro-level explanation of the step—discussion of the specific substep actions that make up the step.

The problem with supplementary discussion, however, is that it can hide the actual step. The actual step—the specific action the reader is to take—has to stand out. There are two techniques to avoid this problem. The first is to bold the actual instruction in the step, as below:

Bold actual user steps in instructions. Bold text helps distinguish the actual action from the supplementary information.

Another solution is to split the instruction from the supplement into separate paragraphs. This wikiHOW post on How to Change the Oil in Your Car shows effective use of splitting instructions into substeps that incorporate supplementary discussion in each step.

THE CONCLUSION

The conclusion of an instruction set should let the reader know that the task is complete and what the end result should look like. If the reader needs to take any additional actions after completing the task, such as waiting a number of hours to let glue harden or paint dry, the conclusion section should include this information. This is also the place to include maintenance, troubleshooting, or support contact information.