Have you ever written directions to a project?
 

Some friends asked me to write down the directions to a basket I made (my own design).
I couldn't believe how hard it is to write down step by step instructions! It would take me pages to write down every little step I did and the project is fairly simple. I have a new appreciation for the great directions in patterns.

Yes I have tried to write directions to a project and I also found it so difficult.

Some people can write good directions and some people can't. I write directions and I write recipes. It's works really well to write your directions and then save it and go back a few days later and go thru them again. You're more likely to find your typos and missed steps that way. It also helps to have a friend or two to read them. Especially friends that aren't afraid to tell you "that doesn't make any sense and your math is a mess."

I've written directions to share with my quilting club. I actually enjoyed it - drew diagrams and did it all on the computer.

I instruct a free community quilt class once a month and have to have write instructions for each class project. I use the free program Apache Open Office to import pictures and add the written text. I then convert it to pdf file and print out as many as I need.

The difficult part for me is avoiding making assumptions about what you think the quilter/crafter already knows.
Several years ago I struggled with a jacket pattern to the point I had to call the designer. The answer was "Oh! you just sew a bunch of strips together and cut off what you need". I would never have known that from reading the directions.

I try to have as many pictures as possible to go with the instructions. I'm a visual learner so I know written text frustrastes more then it helps most of the time. And we have hands on demo at the class.

I frequently re-write instructions to make them easier for me to follow. I get lots of interruptions, so a bulleted list works best for me. I hate trying to follow directions in paragraph form. Pics are very helpful too.

...... and even better to have them actually do/make it.
Reading instructions may seem clear, until really trying to do it!

I write for myself, I don't know if anyone else could follow it. I like pictures and words. Some pictures are too hard to follow, if it has words also I can usually follow it.