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Titles.
Notice the title: instructions are typically given some sort of
action-oriented title, either with -ing phrasing
(gerund) or how to phrasing, as we have here.
Audience. Notice that the level of technical ability needed by the audience is indicated in the words "beginning photographer." introductions to instructions must indicate to readers what level of technical background they need to understand what follows. Overview. Introductions also need overview of contents to follow. The in-sentence list works very well for this purpose, "(1) loading the film . . . " Notice that these three items in the list correspond to the main headings in the instructions that follow. Materials list. Often in instructions you must list the equipment and supplies the reader must gather before beginning the procedure. In this example, there is obviously not much. Special notices. in instructions, you must take great care to include special notices, those notes, warnings, cautions, and danger notices that you commonly see in instructions, usually accompanied by special formatting. In this scheme, a warning notice is used to alert readers to the need to find the right type of film. Second-level headings. You're looking at a second-level heading here. Notice that it uses gerund phrasing (ing phrasing). Take a moment to check out the other headings in these instructions. Third-level headings. You're looking at a third-level heading here. Notice that it is "run into" the paragraph and that it uses bold and sentence-style caps. Again, it is parallel in phrasing to other third-levels within the section. Numbered steps. In instructions, you present each step that the reader must take in a separately numbered-list item. Notice the format: a number, a period and then a space before the text; no parentheses. Notice that the "run-over" lines align to the text of the item, not the number.
List lead-ins. Introduce every list you have in a document with a lead-in, which need not be a full sentence as some of the examples in these instructions show. Notice that the lead-in is punctuated with a colon.
Imperative writing style.
Notice how the individual steps here use the imperative style of
phrasing (open this, aim that, click this, and so on). This is standard
with instruction-writing. "You" is also commonly used. The idea is to
get the reader's full attention.
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