“Working With A Technical Editor”

by Jean Hollis Weber

Presented by: Paul RattrayJuly 2, 2007

Overview

Editor's Roles and ResponsibilitiesWhat Do You Mean When You Say “Editing”?

Types of EditingRule-basedAnalysis-based

When Do I Contribute?Questions to considerTypical scenarios

Is It Time to Edit Yet?What About Technical Reviews?Personality Issues

Editor Roles and Responsibilities

Some of the things technical editors do:Get involved in a writing project from planning stage through completion.Plan documents necessary for a project's

ContentCostScheduleResource requirements

Set and enforce standards for the company's publications and for a particular project.

Editor Roles and Responsibilities (cont.)

Determine material suitability for target audienceReview, edit and rewrite all copies as necessarySupervise graphic artists and editorial assistantsTranslate technical concepts to simple English idiomatic expressionsTest written procedures against products (software/hardware)

What do You Mean When You say “Editing”?

Two types of editing:

Rule-based editingAnalysis-based editing

What do You Mean When You say “Editing”?

Rule-based editingCovers ways to make a document correct, consistent, accurate, and complete, using standards and guidelinesNon-negotiable with the writer; editor enforces rules specified by companySome examples

Spelling, grammar, punctuationAdherence to legal requirements(copyright, etc.)Bibliographic references and citations

What do You Mean When You say “Editing”?

Analysis-based editingCovers the process of evaluating a document for concept, content, organization, form, and style, to make it “reader-friendly”Mostly negotiable; editor suggests improvements rather than make correctionsProblems arise when the difference between “enforcing rules” and “making suggestions” is not clear.

When Do I Contribute?

Knowing the best way to divide up the writing and editing cycle depends on the situation, individuals involved, project, and organization:Questions to consider:

How many people are involved in the project?What are their skill levels?Time constraints?What is each members work load?Do team members respect other's work?

When Do I Contribute?

Typical scenarios:Editor receives writer's material, makes changes, and sends result directly to layout and production.

This method is best for a writer who has left or when fast turnaround is needed (ex. newspaper article).

Editor makes changes and types up questions to be discussed with the writer in person.

Technique used with new or inexperienced writersEditor makes comments in a separate file and writer or layout department inserts them into the file.

Occurs when editor doesn't have the software to edit a particular file (ex. brochures).

Is it Time to Edit Yet?

There is no specific time to edit. As we have seen, editing varies on multiple factors. A document should be edited multiple times at various stages of thewriting process. For example, a substantial amount of editing should be done early, when ideas are stillbeing developed and re-writing will not be a huge task. At that stage, much of the draft is still raw, unformatted and simply the writer's ideas, so a lot of material is usually missing (ex. layout not completed,company style guide has not been applied, etc.).

Is it Time to Edit Yet?

Copy editing – process of making formatting changes and improvements to a manuscript

Should be done different times and in different levels of detail; depends on the agreement between writer and editorSome things editor may want verified:

Numbered lists are numbered correctlyCaptions for illustrations are consistentClickable links workRequired front and back matter is included(preface, index, glossary, etc.)

What About Technical Reviews?

Technical Review – the process of submitting a work to a board of directors to be critically evaluated for content3 ways to approach a technical review

Conduct review before editingBest when substantial change by board is anticipated

First-pass editing done before reviewBest for new writers or those unfamiliar with the company writing style

Editing is done as a part of the reviewBest when time is limited

Personality Issues

As a writer, you should expect certain things from your editor. For example:

An editing schedulePrivate, constructive editorial conferences when appropriateAssistance, when requested, with indexing, figures, tables, tables, etc. Training when necessary A different perspective on content and organization of a documentCollaboration rather than confrontation

Conclusion

As we have seen, there are many different ways and approaches to editing a document.As a writer, it is important to know

Editor's general roles and responsibilitiesTypes of editing

Rule-basedAnalysis-based

Personal responsibilities as a writerWhen to editWhat to and not to expect from your editor

Questions