Learning the Fine Art of Reviewing

If you asked me what the most painful part of being a technical writer is, my answer would be: 'Getting reviews on time. Getting good feedback and inputs on your work.' For me technical writing has been very pleasurable because I hardly got any review comments. My morale has therefore been very high. Project managers, developers and others are so busy trying to come up with good software (read trying to fix all the goof-ups and bugs!) that they usually tend to give documentation lesser importance. User manuals, who reads them anyway? We do not have time for it!

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

Leaving Copyediting for Computing

A copyeditor for a computer publication wants to change careers. She's thinking of taking a few computer language courses with an eye toward moving into UNIX system administration -- a wide-open field. As someone who has changed careers once or twice, I'll offer a coaching session.

Zuchero, John. Editorial Eye, The (2003). Careers>Editing>Programming

Let Editors Edit   

We technician editors need not worry about declining employment if we can show companies the value of the technology of English. If we can demonstrate how editors can make turgid technical authors communicate better with words, sentences, paragraphs, and overall organization, we will be in demand for jobs that are more prestigious and careers that are infinitely more interesting -- because the need is so great.

Bush, Donald W. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Editing>Technical Editing

Looking Sharp  

How to get the most out of the Photoshop sharpening controls - complete with show-and-tell examples.

Blatner, David and Steve Roth. Adobe Magazine (1995). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing>Adobe Photoshop

Loose Ends: Standards and Styles

Several readers have sent me e-mail comments and questions recently that might be of interest to others. (Even Eye readers who don't spend much time on the Web tell us they're interested in picking up this kind of information.)

Ivey, Keith C. Editorial Eye, The (2003). Articles>Style Guides>Editing

Maintenance

The World∆Wide Web is changing; new browsers appear; the language HTML changes; people change jobs and homepages; and writers learn more about their subject.

Degener, Jutta. Technischen Universitat Berlin (1998). Design>Web Design>Editing

Making Technical Reviews More Efficient  

This paper proposes the use of a database to collect and track technical review comments. It discusses the merits of using a database, provides a sample database structure, and describes use of the database in the review process.

Gelb, Janice. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Online

Manuscript Editing: Resources for Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction

Spending time visiting sites and becoming acquainted with Internet resources will, in the long run, save you time, money, and frustration as you learn more about the world of writing and publishing In addition, there's the added benefits of making new friends, sharing ideas, and learning about the fruitful and the fraudulent.

Lotman, Lynda. Manuscriptediting.com. Resources>Editing>Writing

Masters, Slaves, and Infant Mortality: Language Challenges for Technical Editing      

In this article we explore how some contemporary language usage presents challenges for technical editing. Drawing on scholarship in the rhetoric of science and in critical linguistics, we argue that language does affect our perception of reality. Consequently, the language used in some technical documents needs to be reconsidered or even challenged by technical editors. Present textbooks on technical editing do not directly confront this issue, though some scholars have begun to challenge the use of terms such as 'studgun.' We conclude by demonstrating how a critical analysis of metaphors in everyday technical documents would help students question these language choices and draw attention to the consequences of using them.

Graves, Heather Brodie and Roger Graves. Technical Communication Quarterly (1998). Articles>Editing>Biomedical

Measuring the Quality of Editorial Peer Review    

The quality of a process can only be tested against its agreed objectives. Editorial peer-review is widely used, yet there appears to be little agreement about how to measure its effects or processes. Ten studies used a variety of instruments to assess the quality of articles that had undergone peer review. Only 1, nonrandomized study compared the quality of articles published in peer-reviewed and non–peer-reviewed journals. The others measured the effects of variations in the peer-review process or used a before-and-after design to measure the effects of standard peer review on accepted articles. Eighteen studies measured the quality of reviewers' reports under different conditions such as blinding or after training. One study compared the time and cost of different review processes.

Jefferson, Tom, Elizabeth Wager and Frank Davidoff. JAMA (2002). Articles>Scientific Communication>Editing

Le Métier de Rédacteur Technique  

Le rôle du rédacteur technique est de permettre une compréhension et une utilisation simple d'un produit ou d'un service. Pour cela, il utilise un langage clair et pertinent, adapté au public concerné. Le rédacteur se met à la portée de l'utilisateur. Il connaît son public et l'usage qu'il fera du produit. Le niveau de vulgarisation varie donc en fonction de l'utilisateur. Le rédacteur technique est capable d'exécuter une grande variété de tâches.

Redtech. (French) Careers>Editing>TC

More Than Just Error Correction: Students' Perspectives on Their Revision Processes During Writing    

Drawing on the second phase of a 2-year study of students' linguistic and compositional processes, this article describes students' reflections on their online revision processes, those revisions made during the process of translating thoughts into written text. The data collected were from classroom observation and post hoc interviews with 34 students, who were observed during a writing task in the English classrooms and interviewed subsequently to elicit their reflections and understandings of their own revising processes. The analysis indicates that students tend to conceptualize revision as a macro-strategy and as a task that is predominantly undertaken as a posttextual production reviewing activity. It also indicates that students engage in multiple revising activities during writing, including many revisions that are not concerned with simple matters of surface accuracy, and many students are able to talk about these perceptively and with insight.

Myhill, Debra and Susan Jones. Written Communication (2007). Articles>Writing>Editing

Multiple-File Search and Replace Utilities in Windows

This is a review of some multiple-file search and replace utilities for the Windows operating system. One limitation in Windows is the lack of a good search and replace utility. I've often needed to do a search or search and replace across multiple files. While Windows does have a decent Find utility, it doesn't search and replace. I've found a couple of programs that address this limitation.

Soltys, Keith. IRTC (2001). Resources>Software>Editing

Mystery Fiction and the Technical Communicator: The Editor's Role  

Technical editors can learn much from editors of mystery fiction. Both orchestrate elaborate game-playing and structuring as they serve as the reader's advocate.

Murphy, Avon J. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Editing>Technical Editing

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

The Nature of the Interchange Between Editors and Authors

Editors, if allowed to interact with authors on a level above the comma, could often help authors negotiate new meaning as authors struggle to translate their ideas into writing.

Document Design (2001). Articles>Collaboration>Editing

No Pain, No Shame Editing  

Editing the works of others is truly a tricky business. The balancing act required in dealing with an author’s ego is no less precarious than that of teetering, with toes and teeth clenched, on a high wire. Maintaining a steady equilibrium between the principles of good writing on the one hand and the human factors involved in the process on the other is paramount if editors are to avoid falling—falling from both the reader’s and the author’s favor, that is. Recognizing that editors are advocates for readers as well as for authors makes the endeavor less painful and less shameful for both editors and authors.

Dahm, Rea Etta M. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Editing

Not a Style Guide: Creating a Quick Reference Grammar Guide for Writers  

When approached by a group of curriculum design specialists to develop a job aid that would help analysts and trainers solve some of their most common writing problems, the Multinational Customer and Service Education (MC&SE) editing group from Xerox Corporation went to work to produce The Write Stuff: When to Use a Comma and Other Writing Rules. This paper focuses on the Leadership Through Quality process the editors used to develop this reference tool. It also describes how The Write Stuff addresses some of the most common writing problems editors encounter in the course of a working day.

Cowan, Elisabeth J.S., Raymond J. Doughty Paul F. Ferguson, Ted Moss, and Karen Sliva. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Editing>Style Guides

Noteworthy Observations About Note-Taking by Professionals    

In this article we focus on professional readers who have to write recommendations in an online environment. We address the question whether taking notes on screen influences the reading process and the quality of the recommendations in terms of applicability, completeness, and persuasiveness. Seven participants each composed two pieces of advice on technical communication issues. They could use an electronic Notepad whenever they wished. Taking notes appeared to influence advice quality negatively, which may be caused by attention shifts from reading to taking notes on screen. Although we could not find a relationship between the contents of the notes and advice quality, we noted differences in note-taking approaches between the participants.

Melenhorst, Mark, Thea Van Der Geest And Micha√el Steehouder. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Editing>Quality

Now That We've Written It, What Do We Do With It?  

Maintaining documents after they are published (making technical corrections and clarifications, adding mussing information) is a large and important task - a task that is often pushed aside or overlooked entirely by writing departments. Our writing department was frequently behind in this maintenance work and wanted 10 improve our maintenance service to our customers. We needed to find a new, efficient way to handle the work -- quite a challenge given a shrinking work force and growing workloads. This paper describes the solution we devised, its early successes and its obstacles.

Dettlaff, Judy L. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Content Management>Editing

Now That You've Got a Double Agent, What Do You Do With 'Em?  

Having demonstrated the importance of acquiring a double agent for writing projects, we now want to explain the best ways to successfully indoctrinate a double agent. This paper will help you prepare for, orient, train, and become a mentor for a double agent to help make him or her an effective member of your writing team.

Fisher, Judith R., Karen L. Mobley and Michelle M. Wright. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Technical Editing>Collaboration

Offres d'emploi

Une collection de listes de carrière, éditée au coin des rédacteurs techniques.

Rédacteur Technique, Le. Careers>Job Listings>Technical Editing>France

On Becoming an Editur  

Success may be defined by monetary rewards or personal satisfaction. An editor follows the path of success by daily seeking inspiration from within, recalling the wisdom of past and current masters of communication, and listening to the prophets of the day.

Hunt, James M. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Editing

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

One Last Look: The Final Quality Control Review

Virtually everyone in the publications field has a story to tell about 'the one that slipped through' -- a horrible, glaring, embarrassing error that went undetected and made it into print. My personal worst was the time the company I was working for was sending a proposal to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, only our proposal cover said 'Joint Chefs....' There is always plenty of blame to go around when these errors occur, but usually it is the error-prevention system that is faulty.

Cormier, Robin A. Editorial Eye, The (1997). Articles>Editing