Why I Hate The Body of Your Article

I really don't care what you write about. I am more interested in the format of the article, not your view or take on the subject matter.

Pires, Halstatt. Ezine Articles (2005). Articles>Writing>Editing

Why I Hate Your Article Headlines

I’m a publisher for numerous sites. Here’s why I hate your headline and what you can do about it.

Pires, Halstatt. Ezine Articles (2005). Articles>Writing>Editing

WikiWiki as Tech Review Vehicle

Like most technical writers, getting my feature team to review my help topics for technical accuracy is like keeping an Iditarod team from making a dash for the nearest McDonalds or garbage dump in the middle of a blinding blizzard.  Technical contributors want to participate in technical documentation reviews but they rarely have enough bandwidth to do so effectively. Consequently, I spend a lot of time trying to determine the most effective way to squeeze my teammates for feedback.  This can be a painstaking process, especially for technical writers who are unlucky enough to work with teams that are halfway around the world or spread across the country. Some contributors only produce if I corner them in their office with a paper copy.  Others are overly motivated, but I love them all the same.  Most technical reviewers, at least at Microsoft, require a combination of:  incentives (food, beer, ...), attention getters (a stern note from their manager) and tech review tools that fit their working style and team culture.

Parnell, Korby. Microsoft (2004). Articles>Editing>Engineering>Assessment

Working Electronically

Editors need to know some basic techniques for dealing with files if they are going to be editing them electronically. These techniques apply to files in any format, but exactly what you do depends on which word-processor, desktop publishing program, help authoring system, or other software you are using.

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

Working Memory in an Editing Task    

A number of studies have found that writers produce text in bursts of language. That is, when creating a text, writers produce a few words, pause, produce a few more words, pause, and so on. Chenoweth and Hayes (2003) hypothesized that language bursts occur when writers translate ideas in to new language. This study tested this hypothesis against the following two alternative hypotheses: (a) Language bursts are caused by proposing new ideas rather than by translating ideas in to written language and (b) language bursts depend on the form of the input to the writing process rather than on the translation process. The study employed an editing task in which participants were required to translate a written language input. The alternative hypotheses led to contradictory predictions about writers' performance in this task. The study also explored the impact of working memory restrictions on task performance.

Hayes, John R. and N. Ann Chenoweth. Written Communication (2007). Articles>Editing>Workflow>Cognitive Psychology

Writer-Editor Interactions: What Works?  

Successful writer-editor relationships require a commitment from both parties to teamwork, open communications, and shared accountability for the success of each project. The benefits from this ejj?ort include better igformation products for users and a more congenial working environmentfor you. Equally important, your clients will develop cor@ence and trust when they see a project’s writer and editor combining their skills and collaborating on shared project goals.

Collins, William L. and Susan M.J. Lester. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Collaboration>Editing>Writing

Writer-Editor Relationships in Revisions

Editors, professional or otherwise, can be annoying individuals. The trick is to focus on the helpful parts of that annoyance and try to ignore the less-helpful parts.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (1995). Articles>Writing>Editing>Collaboration

Writers and Editors

The U.S. Department of Labor expects demand for writers and editors to increase faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2010. Most jobs require a college degree either in the liberal arts—communications, journalism, and English are preferred—or a technical subject for technical writing positions. Competition is expected to be less for lower paying, entry-level jobs at small daily and weekly newspapers, trade publications, and radio and television broadcasting stations in small markets. Persons who fail to gain better paying jobs or earn enough as independent writers usually are able to transfer readily to communications-related jobs in other occupations.

U.S. Department of Labor (2003). Careers>Writing>Editing

Writing Across the Curriculum

The phrase 'writing across the curriculum' is relatively new, as far as I am aware. I want to examine its underlying meaning, its various administrative forms, and its implications for the faculties of colleges and of high schools to look at the theory, the practice, and occasionally the history of the notion.

Kinneavy, James L. ADE Bulletin (1983). Articles>Editing>Writing>Collaboration

Writing and Editing

Resources relating to technical writing and editing.

Technical Communicators Resource Site. Resources>Directories>Editing>Writing

Writing And Editing Stem Overview  

As part of the process of developing this overview I went back to some of the Proceedings for STC conferences that were held 10 years ago. I also reviewed issues of Technical Communication that were published at the same time.

Forbes, Christopher J. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Editing

Writing and Editing Stem Overview  

What could embody this year’s theme of Evolution/Revolution more than the Writing and Editing Stem? On the one hand, we must continue to evolve as professionals by building our writing and editing skills, the cornerstones of our trade. On the other, we must stay on top of the information revolution our industry is experiencing. This stem will help you to do both: build upon the basics and also stay abreast of the new technology and tools that are constantly revolutionizing the ways we do our work.

Murphy, Daniel J. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Editing>Writing

Writing and Editing Stem Overview  

The Writing and Editing Stem of the 42nd Annual STC Conference is designed to provide sessions that speak to the questions of technical communicators today and that also remind us to 'stick to the basics' of our craft(s). In a world of to 're-imagine' the audience and gain new ever-changing technologies, we must perspectives. Find out how to motivate your accommodate both a diverse audience and a audience to learn and then keep ‘em coming back! diverse media. Our goal is to explore (proven and new) methodologies and ideas that can enhance our writing and editing skills and philosophies as we enter the 21st century.

Baxley, Deborah Lewis. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Writing>Editing

Writing Consistently Across Media: Ten Proofreading Tips

Last time I wrote about consistency in online writing. Soon after, I received an email from Leslie Drechsler, a reader in Tustin, CA: 'As a Marketing Communications Specialist, I'd love to hear your ideas on how to successfully implement consistency in an established business,' she wrote. 'I thought developing a company style guide would solve the problem. But perhaps there are other ways to approach it. 'Perhaps this could be the subject of another article.' Here's that article, Leslie.

Henning, Kathy. ClickZ (2001). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Writing

Writing Drafts

One of the keys to effective technical writing is to write, edit and re-write. Once you have completed the first draft, you will need to review it several times to identify errors and inconsistencies in the text.

Klariti. Articles>Writing>Editing

Writing, Editing and Designing: a Unified Process

What's in it for me? That's what magazine readers must see at first glance, or they will flip on by. Winning their attention requires thoughtful blending of words and design from the beginning of the publication process.

Writing that Works (2003). Articles>Writing>Editing>Visual Rhetoric

Writing Programs and the English Department

A couple of years ago John Gerber, in an article in the ADE Bulletin, urged a broadened definition of 'literacy,' one that would encompass all study relating to linguistic artifacts, from the most elementary reading and writing to the most differentiated scholarship and composing. Nearly all college English departments do include much of this broad range, but the inclusion is rarely an integration. Instead, there's the English major and the freshman composition program and the creative-writing courses and, sometimes, the courses for nonmajors: film, popular culture, folklore; business and technical writing; and so forth. In large departments different faculty members may specialize in one or another of these units, and the chairman, who is supposed to be running the whole six-ring circus, can scarcely get the different sorts to talk to one another. What integration occurs begins and ends with the yearly departmental cocktail party.

Johnson, Paula. ADE Bulletin (1979). Articles>Editing>Writing>Collaboration

Writing Shorter Manuals  

Large manuals are expensive to write, produce, and ship, and may make a product seem mare diflcult or complex than it really is. Shorter manuals can decrease telephone support calls, provide a challenge to the writer, and save time and money. With careful planning and preparation, diJjCerent writing and design techniques, and participation in product design, writers can shorten manuals and make users more willing to read them.

Sommerville, Heather M. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Editing>Writing

You Lost Me in the Third Paragraph: A Guide to Gracious Criticism

When a colleague comes to you for criticism, for help, for feedback, you are not helping that colleague if you say, 'Looks okay to me.' An important skill in college and in the work force is that of giving solid, instructive criticism. This handout is designed to teach you this skill.

George Mason University. Articles>Editing>Collaboration

Critiquing Critiques: A Genre Analysis of Feedback Across Novice to Expert Design Studios    

In the discipline of design, the most common presentation genre is the critique, and the most central aspect of this genre is the feedback. Using a qualitative framework, this article identifies a typology of feedback, compares the frequencies of feedback types between different levels of design studios ranging from novice to expert, and explores what the feedback reflects about the social and educational context of these design studios. Results suggest that the feedback socialized students into egalitarian relationships and autonomous decision-making identities that were perhaps more reflective of academic developmental stages or idealized workplace contexts than of actual professional settings--therefore potentially complicating the preprofessional goals of the critique.

Dannels, Deanna P. and Kelly Norris Martin. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Editing>Collaboration

Multi-Track Mixing for Location Dialogue

Stereo is rarely recorded as such in the field. Instead, we record monaural sounds and wait until post-production is nearly complete to re-assign these sounds to the audience's left, right, and in-between. Until the film is edited, there is no way to know just where all of the audio elements need to end up. For instance, out on production, it might seem logical to record a car that passes from left to right in stereo, so that you can hear the 'pass by' in your phones whoosh from the left ear to the right ear.

Ginsburg, Fred. Equipment Emporium (2006). Articles>Multimedia>Editing>Audio

Foley on a Shoestring

The post-production process known as 'Foley' refers to the art of recording 'live' sync sound effects to picture. It is akin to looping the dialogue, but instead of recording the actors performing their lines while watching themselves on screen--skilled craftspeople known as 'Foley artists' will walk, run, and act out any sync sound effects to match what the actor is seen (or implied) doing in the picture.

Ginsburg, Fred. Equipment Emporium (2006). Articles>Multimedia>Editing>Audio

Patterns of Revision in Online Writing    

This study examines the revision histories of 10 Wikipedia articles nominated for the site's Featured Article Class (FAC), its highest quality rating, 5 of which achieved FAC and 5 of which did not. The revisions to each article were coded, and the coding results were combined with a descriptive analysis of two representative articles in order to determine revision patterns. All articles in both groups showed a higher percentage of additions of new material compared to deletions and revisions that rearranged the text. Although the FAC articles had roughly equal numbers of content and surface revisions, the non-FAC articles had fewer surface revisions and were dominated by content revisions. Although the unique features of the Wikipedia environment inhibit strict comparisons between these results and those of earlier revision studies, these results suggest revision in this environment places unique structural demands on writers, possibly leading to unique revision patterns.

Jones, John. Written Communication (2008). Articles>Editing>Online>Wikis

Cropping and Sizing Graphics

Use this study guide to learn how to crop and size graphics in several different applications. Cropping is not particularly problematic, but sizing is.

McMurrey, David A. Illuminati Online (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing

Developing Indexes

As a technical writer, you'll typically have to create indexes for the print books and for online helps you develop. The type of index we mean here is the classic back-of-book index that shows page numbers on which topics and subtopics occur within the book. An online index is much the same except that you supply hypertext links rather than page numbers.

McMurrey, David A. Illuminati Online (2004). Articles>Editing>Indexing>Technical Writing