Collecting Books about Editing  

Intercom's 'friendly editor' discusses his extensive collection of dictionaries, grammars, and other books of interest.

Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2005). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Grammar

Double Take

When I peer-review a four-page document and insert the word the seventeen times, I wonder: Is this what my company is paying me to do? Am I truly adding value for my customers?

Wenger, Andrea. Carolina Communique (2006). Articles>Editing>Grammar

Escape From the Grammar Trap

Too many editors focus on the details and don't pay enough attention to the bigger picture. Editors can--and should--add even more value through substantive, technical, and usability editing. Copyediting is important, but the details are only part of what an editor can and should be reviewing. After all, a document can be correctly spelled and punctuated, grammatically correct, use only approved terminology, and follow the style guide perfectly--and still not serve the audience's needs. This article covers some reasons why editors focus on details and not the bigger picture; describes how much attention technical communicators should pay to formal rules of grammar, punctuation, and usage; and describes how we can distinguish between essential and nonessential rules of grammar, punctuation, and usage.

Weber, Jean Hollis. TECHWR-L (2002). Articles>Editing>Grammar

Grammar Stammer

Don't you think that it is a tragedy that 95 percent of the people who desire to be technical writers have a poor command over the language? I am sure all of us make a mistake or two, once in a while. But to make it in every sentence and paragraph shows utter disrespect for readers.

Kamath, Gurudutt R. IT People (2003). Articles>Editing>Grammar>Technical Writing

Nancy's Wordsmithy: Rules You Don't Have to Obey, Part III

The funny thing is, this rule should be running out of steam, because certain standards of written English have changed in ways that make the rule at least partly obsolete. Learning it is kind of like learning to change a cloth ribbon on an old manual typewriter.

Allison, Nancy. Boston Broadside (1989). Articles>Writing>Editing>Grammar

One Hundred Simple Tech Writing Errors

Here are the 100 writing errors that the author has encountered in his experience. (Followed by the subsequent article 'Ten More Errors in Technical Writing.')

Kamath, Gurudutt R. IT People (2003). Articles>Editing>Grammar>Technical Writing

Sentence Diagramming: Making Sense of Sentences  

Sentence diagramming is an important tool for technical communicators to use in analyzing their own writing and editing. Sentence diagramming is also a neutral basis from which to discuss and evaluate technical documentation with colleagues and with other co- workers, such as subject-matter experts, who are not professional communicators. Through visual examples, this paper illustrates how to diagram three types of sentences (simple, compound, and complex), how sentence diagramming shows an objective view of three common syntactical errors (misplaced modifier, lack of parallel structure, and dangling modifier), and how the revised sentences make sense as sentences and as diagrams.

Ball, Valerie M. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Editing>Grammar

Teaching a Workshop on Sentence Diagramming  

Demonstrates how sentence diagramming can be an effective writing tool and offers tips on how it should be taught.

Jennings, Ann S. Intercom (2002). Articles>Education>Editing>Grammar

Ten More Errors in Technical Writing

So, well, here are 10 more errors. This time we will focus on grammar and punctuation. Most of these are simplistic and obvious. But then they are too common. As usual, I have slipped in some content for the advanced writers too. (This article is a follow-up to 'One Hundred Simple Tech Writing Errors .)

Kamath, Gurudutt R. IT People (2003). Articles>Editing>Grammar>Technical Writing

To Err is Human, But Can It Be Forgiven?: Effects and Economics of Typos  

Technical communicators dread typos. A piece of work that contains one or more typos is seen as shoddy, not something to be proud of. Finding and correcting these errors, however, takes time and costs money. Might there be a better way to spend resources?- ways that might produce more usable information.? Effects of errors, value added by correcting them, and the economics of error detection will be discussed.

Grice, Roger A., Lenore S. Ridgway Richard K. Ridgway and Edward J. See. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Editing>Grammar

Misplaced Modifier – Even WSJ Falls For It

“Misplaced modifier” is a frequently committed logical error that even the most prominent publications fall for occasionally. Solution? Move the modifier clause right next to the subject of the sentence.

Technical Communication Center (2007). Articles>Writing>Editing>Grammar