Editing a Moving Target

I'd like to assume that most of us find ourselves having to edit a moving target only occasionally, but from the horror stories I've been hearing, it seems that more and more people are being expected to edit well in a ridiculously short time.

Stoughton, Mary. Editorial Eye, The (1997). Articles>Editing>Collaboration

Editing All the Legalese the Law Allows

Strictly speaking, legalese isn't intended for use outside a judicial context, but quasi-legalistic writing, with its officious tone, wordiness, and complex terms, percolates into business, government, and public interest documents. It's a parroting of the real thing -- which is already hard to swallow -- and there's a lot of it around. That kind of legalese demands to be edited, because people will do almost anything to avoid reading it.

Mayhew, Paul and Elizabeth McBurney. Editorial Eye, The (1997). Articles>Editing>Legal>Writing

Editing: An Arcane Strategy for New Millennium Technology?  

This paper discusses the relevance of editing to documentation produced in the new millennium. It also points out the importance of editing, for clarity of communication as well as for intent. Editing is approached first from the historical perspective provided by the history of written communication. This is followed by a brief discussion of the types of editing functions most often used prior to publication.

Block, Anne L. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Editing>History

Editing an Index  

Collins and Hamilton's thorough guide to editing indexes offers tips on the most difficult and time-consuming of indexers' tasks.

Collins, William L. and Karen J. Hamilton. Intercom (2001). Articles>Indexing>Editing

Editing and Revising With Flair  

Samuel Johnson wrote 'What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.' The wisdom contained in this pithy directive should serve as an excellent guide for writers who edit and revise documents to imbue them with a sense ofpanache. While proper syntax, diction, and usage are three primary elements in the editing and revising process, other important considerations include: (a) eliminating redundancies; (b) avoiding jargon; (c) cleaning bureaucratic expressions; (d) using active andpassive voice appropriately; (e) avoiding wordiness; and Gf) editing for slips in grammar, punctuation and mechanics.

Wadia, Mickey. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Editing>Writing

Editing Effective Lists  

Demonstrates how well-written lists can bring order and coherence to any piece of writing.

Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2001). Articles>Editing

Editing for an International Audience

Here are some things to consider when editing for an international audience.

Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2002). Articles>Editing>International>Rhetoric

Editing for International Audiences    

To remain competitive, companies must increase content reuse and multilingual usability while reducing volume and eliminating culturally sensitive language. Rushanan shows how editors can increase their value to their employers by functioning as leaders in the translation and localization process.

Rushanan, Valerie. Intercom (2007). Articles>Editing>Localization>International

Editing Glossaries

Traps for the unwary are common in technical writing. In my 20 years of editing, I've seen a lot of things that have slipped by writers and reviewers.

Weber, Jean Hollis. Journal of the Australian STC (1996). Articles>Editing

Editing Guidelines for Software Documentation

Software documentation can be difficult to review, so it helps to have some editing guidelines to keep you focused. Let's face it; software documentation isn't exactly exciting reading material. But you should be able to complete the job in a productive manner if you keep your coffee cup full and follow the editing guidelines below.

HelpScribe (2008). Articles>Documentation>Editing>Software

Editing Indexes

Like any well-written document, an index needs to be edited. Editing ensures consistency, clarity, completeness and accuracy. And an effective index contributes substantially to the usability of a document.

Brown, Fred. Allegro Time! (1999). Articles>Indexing>Editing

Editing Is Magic  

Editing is magic. A good editor can take a sentence like “References should be included in the paper sufficient to enable the reader to acquire additional information should she desire it,” and condense it to “Please include references.” Editing saves time, cost, and confusion. It’s magic.

Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2001). Articles>Editing

Editing Mathematics  

Editing mathematics is like editing a foreign language, with its own conventions, symbols, and rules of grammar. Various typographic rules must be followed exactly since deviations from them change the meaning of the material. Like poetry, placement of the information on the page is important for the meaning. The editor often must be a cryptographer, decoding esoteric handwritten material.

Burgan, Murrie W. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Editing>Scientific Communication>Mathematics

Editing on a Global Scale  

An interview with Seth Beckerman, a freelance editor with many international clients, reveals the challenges and rewards of working with writers around the globe.

Ketelaar, Carolee C. Intercom (2001). Articles>Editing>International

Editing Online Documents: Strategies and Tips    

This paper explains the basics of editing online documents: the issues, skills, strategies, and processes. Practical tips address editing the following: nonsequential content, structure and navigation, links, and online writing style. Most of these strategies and tips apply to both online technical documents and general purpose Web pages. However, they do not apply to PDF or PostScript™ documents that are posted online for printing purposes only.

Troffer, Alysson M. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Editing>Online

Editing Online Materials

Editing anything that is intended to be read on a computer rather than (or in addition to) being read on a paper copy.

Weber, Jean Hollis. ASTC (1996). Articles>Editing>Online

Editing Reports and Proposals

Businesses, non-profit organizations, government departments, and other groups produce a lot of proposals and reports. This article summarizes some features of reports and proposals that are not the same as books, news items, manuals, magazine articles, memos and many other documents.

Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2001). Articles>Editing>Proposals>Reports

Editing Single-Sourced Projects

This article does not address the (important) questions of when a single-sourcing methodology is a good solution to an information delivery problem ('good' here meaning saving time and money while maintaining or improving the quality of the resulting deliverables). Instead, I'm looking only at the editor's involvement in the project.

Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2002). Articles>Editing>Single Sourcing

Editing Sure Has Changed. Or Has It?

It has always been part of the editor's traditional task to search for the mot juste. This was especially true in technical fields: words could not be expected to guide readers if they were not accurate, and the mechanics of production made it costly to change words once they were published. Today, however, particularly in fields where much of what is published can become obsolete within months or weeks, fewer and fewer research organizations employ a full-time copy editor to refine the wording of their texts. Instead, to keep pace with the need for current information, our offices are being equipped with the latest tools for electronic text production.

Bodzin, Gene. Writer's Block (1995). Articles>Editing>History

Editing Tables of Data

Tables should allow readers to easily and accurately: see what subject matter and variables are being described; find out absolute values; observe relationships between variables. When you edit a table, it is useful to assess just how well it achieves these ends. Readers will feel confident with your table if they can quickly navigate around and absorb the data.

Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (1999). Articles>Editing>Technical Editing

Editing Tests for Writers  

Times are hard, and many former writers are pounding the dirt looking for work. Some who have extensive experience with peer review or revising documents are expanding their job searches to include careers as editors. However, new editors often face a barrier to entering the profession: the editing test. Rather than taking a chance on unproven candidates, publishers and other clients typically ask would-be editors to review short documents that test three main aspects of an editor’s skills.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2003). Articles>Editing>Writing

Editing—We Meet Again  

Three papers on editing presented at the 1967 STC Conference are revisited to emphasize the belief that editing in 1996, despite changes introduced by modern technology, is still much the same as it was 30 years ago. Editors still make changes (in language, structure, and mechanics). Editors still can work more effectively when they have a basic knowledge of production processes (composition, illustration, photography, printing). Editors still need 'uncommon skills' in managing work people, and time.

Cox, Alberta L., Donald W. Bush, Elizabeth Babcock, David Dobson and Lola Zook. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Editing

Editing Web Pages: A Second Look  

How to edit Web pages--with revision tracking--using Microsoft Word.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2004). Articles>Editing>Web Design>Writing

Editing Your Own Documentation  

Technical writers sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that the user is stupid. I have often heard technical writers say things like 'well, if the user can't figure that out, maybe he’s in the wrong job!'

Docsymmetry (2003). Articles>Documentation>Editing>Technical Writing

Editing Yourself

Here are some tips that helped me edit my own writing.

Leigh, Heather. Crazy for Words (2007). Articles>Editing>Writing>Technical Writing