Editor as Teacher, Writer as Student: Building a Relationship for Corporate Writing Improvement  

Corporate writing skills deficits may be minimized by effective technical writer training programs. One way to effect long-term writing improvement is to cast a skilled technical editor in the role of resident writing teacher. The successful editor-as-writing-teacher must confront personal writing processes and attitudes, develop a positive and trusting relationship with clients, develop writing assessment skills, analyze and understand the corporate culture and language, and keep abreast of new techniques and tools in writing education. Acquistion of these attributes and skills is a realistic goal for a seasoned technical communicator.

Abbott, F. Thomas. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Editing>Business Communication

Final Check: Dotting Those i’s and Crossing Those t’s

You’ve worked long and hard on your article, newsletter, press release, promo brochure or report. Now it’s time to move your baby off your screen and into the world. Not so long ago your baby would have gone either onto a printed page or onto the Web. These days, your words will probably head for both. Even materials such as newsletters, white papers, reports and advertorials that are first published on paper are quite likely to be reprinted, archived or otherwise reused on the Web, perhaps even as an audio file or podcast. People may even blog about your content. What does this mean for you as a business communicator?

Canavor, Natalie and Claire Meirowitz. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Editing>Writing

How Do You Handle Letters to the Editor?

Letters to the editor can be a headache. Many editors play fast and loose with them, often under orders. Among the worst and most common offenses are choosing letters to bolster a policy and having staff members write letters under other names to influence or misrepresent readers' views.

Writing that Works (2003). Articles>Editing>Business Communication

Practical Tips for Language: The Ladder to the Top

We the Technical Editors are spared of one worry which our colleagues from journalism generally have: In our work we need not pay 'so much' attention to 'as much as possible' large number of editions. But the situation is different, if we--as is always the case--are to also look after the company's web presence. What is an edition in the context of printing is here the so-called 'page ranking' among the major search engines like Google and Yahoo. Many imagine that a listing in the hits lists depends on chance or, that it is mainly due to some technical means. That is all wrong: by employing some clever textual work the chances of web pages being found can be significantly increased. In reality, even elaborate techniques can lower the chances of hits: Frames, JavaScript and Flash Intros often derail the search engines. And the results may look all right, but regrettably the page will no longer be found.

Nickl, Markus. tekom (2006). Articles>Language>Editing>Business Communication