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Atricle Dump - Great Technical Writing: Beware of Your Editor/Love Your Editor
Many change programs seem to meander along with no clear purpose or direction. These are the programs that usually fail. In the end, vast resources are consumed and people are left burned out and confused. Your desire to move your organization towards a new way of working will remain just a wish unless you set specific objectives and create a plan for achieving those objectives.The key to setting your program off on the right track is to work with your key stakeholders to flesh out unambiguous and measurable objectives. Do this before you do anything else!Why Set Goals?How does goal setting help your program succeed? To begin with, the two-way dialogue involved in setting goals helps to get all stakeholders on the same page, uncovering hidden assumptions and misunderstandings.Secondly, inviting and encouraging stakeholders to
So don't fear your editor. Make your editor part of your writing team.
Love Your Editor
Hire Your Editor Early in the Project
Hire your editor early in the life of the project. There are at least two benefits to hiring the editor early:
* First, your editor will be prepared for the editing task. He/she will have had time to get to know the product, target audience, and your organization's style guide.
* Second, your editor can help you with your writing, as I describe below...
Let Your Editor Help You
If you run into problems about how to write something, call on your editor. Most likely your editor can provide an effective wording to get you around your block. That's one reason why you got the editor on the project early. Here's another...
A Recommendation
I recommend that you work on small
Obviously, it goes without saying that your goals must be written. Once you have accomplished this, the second part of the goal setting process must be for you to determine WHY you want to achieve your goals. Now here is where you need to turn your own sales skills upon yourself. You cannot simply state that you want to achieve your goals to make money, or to keep your job. You have to go deeper. Why do you want more money...? You want more money so you can ______. Why is _______ so important to you? What will having _______ ultimately mean to me? Remember, drill down just like you would with a prospect. Don't let yourself get away crappy, off the cuff, answers. Drill down to what moves you, what motivates you every day. This is where you will find your passion and it will help you to attach that passion to achieving your goals.After you’ve written down your goals,
Your editor should be an integral part of your writing team. Do not think of him/her as a judge, but rather as a resource to help you in all phases of the writing project. This article will help you overcome any fear of your editor, and how to effectively use your editor during the writing process.
Beware of Your Editor
Some of the changes that an editor might suggest could make the User Document more difficult for your Reader to understand.
Improving Your Writing
Once your editor has gotten past the basic mechanical editing tasks of:
* grammar
* punctuation
* spelling
* editing to a Style Sheet,
he/she may work on "improving your writing."
Your editor may believe that one way to make the writing more interesting is to use synonyms when you refer back to something. Thus you might call something a "chip bin" in one part of your text, and your editor might suggest using a different term, such as "waste trap," later in the document. This should make your writing "more interesting."
You do not want interesting writing in your User Documents! You want clear, simple, very easy to understand writing. If you make your writing more interesting by using the synonym ("waste trap") then you force your reader to have to think about whether or not these are the same thing. I recommend that you use the exact same wording every place in your User Document where you are referring to the same thing. No synonyms here!
If your Reader wanted to be entertained or have his/her thoughts provoked, then he/she would be reading a novel.
Don't let your editor make your writing more interesting or more clever if those efforts makes the material harder for your Reader to understand.
Erudition
Another place to beware of your editor is "erudition." That is, when an editor that tries to make your User Documentation sound more formal. Other than disclaimer, legal, and safety information, the User Document should sound friendly, with a conversational tone.
For example, an editor might suggest changing contractions (such as "don't") into their more formal form ("do not"). Don't do it! Contractions are conversational and they should not be avoided.
If you think about it, most people reading the User Documentation for any product are under some form of stress:
* they either want to get on with using the product, or
* something has gone wrong.
A formal document will put the User off. The document should not be silly or flippant; however, it should provide the information that the User needs in a conversational, easily understood style. The needed information should be easy to find.
Although most word processor grammar checkers are woefully inadequate, many of these checkers can be made to provide a readability score (you may have to set an option to enable this feature). Editing should help increase the readability (indicated by a decrease in the reading grade level) of the document. If editing increases the reading grade level, ask your editor why that score has changed.
What to Do
Provide your editor with the information that will enable him/her to do the best job. Here are some things to tell your editor:
* The intended audience for the User Document
* Tell your editor that you want an informal style of User Document
* What style manual or guide to be used in editing
* Scheduling and progress of the project
* Format for sharing and editing the text (make sure the editor can read your electronic documents -- do this when you hire the editor)
(Whenever you are dealing with someone outside your organization, you must have a signed non-disclosure agreement. This is in addition to any other contractual items between the outsider and your organization.)
Get to Know Your Editor
Your editor is NOT your school teacher. In your school days, your teacher-as-editor was a judge. Your goal was to impress your teacher with your writing. You were working for a grade. Thus you may have come to fear your editor.
Change your thinking! Now, your editor is on your side. Your editor will work with you to produce the best possible writing. You will not have to worry excessively about grammar. You goal is to get the information "on paper" as clearly and completely as you can. Your editor will suggest changes to polish the text.
So don't fear your editor. Make your editor part of your writing team.
Love Your Editor
Hire Your Editor Early in the Project
Hire your editor early in the life of the project. There are at least two benefits to hiring the editor early:
* First, your editor will be prepared for the editing task. He/she will have had time to get to know the product, target audience, and your organization's style guide.
* Second, your editor can help you with your writing, as I describe below...
Let Your Editor Help You
If you run into problems about how to write something, call on your editor. Most likely your editor can provide an effective wording to get you around your block. That's one reason why you got the editor on the project early. Here's another...
A Recommendation
I recommend that you work on small p
Search engine optimization or SEO has worked wonders for many online business undertakings. In fact the whole process of having an online identity through a website will fall flat without a proper search engine optimization strategy. Till a website is well recognized my major search engines there is absolutely no chance that a site can become popular among visitors that are regular on the web. Today the reasons why people use the internet are very different from the reasons for which this was earlier used. In the present times one can accomplish all type of task by sitting at home and working on an internet enabled computer. So one thing that online business owners must take care of is to implement effective search engine optimization strategies for their business. After all this is the door to success on the web.Content that is present on a website is vital for implementing e
If your Reader wanted to be entertained or have his/her thoughts provoked, then he/she would be reading a novel.
Don't let your editor make your writing more interesting or more clever if those efforts makes the material harder for your Reader to understand.
Erudition
Another place to beware of your editor is "erudition." That is, when an editor that tries to make your User Documentation sound more formal. Other than disclaimer, legal, and safety information, the User Document should sound friendly, with a conversational tone.
For example, an editor might suggest changing contractions (such as "don't") into their more formal form ("do not"). Don't do it! Contractions are conversational and they should not be avoided.
If you think about it, most people reading the User Documentation for any product are under some form of stress:
* they either want to get on with using the product, or
* something has gone wrong.
A formal document will put the User off. The document should not be silly or flippant; however, it should provide the information that the User needs in a conversational, easily understood style. The needed information should be easy to find.
Although most word processor grammar checkers are woefully inadequate, many of these checkers can be made to provide a readability score (you may have to set an option to enable this feature). Editing should help increase the readability (indicated by a decrease in the reading grade level) of the document. If editing increases the reading grade level, ask your editor why that score has changed.
What to Do
Provide your editor with the information that will enable him/her to do the best job. Here are some things to tell your editor:
* The intended audience for the User Document
* Tell your editor that you want an informal style of User Document
* What style manual or guide to be used in editing
* Scheduling and progress of the project
* Format for sharing and editing the text (make sure the editor can read your electronic documents -- do this when you hire the editor)
(Whenever you are dealing with someone outside your organization, you must have a signed non-disclosure agreement. This is in addition to any other contractual items between the outsider and your organization.)
Get to Know Your Editor
Your editor is NOT your school teacher. In your school days, your teacher-as-editor was a judge. Your goal was to impress your teacher with your writing. You were working for a grade. Thus you may have come to fear your editor.
Change your thinking! Now, your editor is on your side. Your editor will work with you to produce the best possible writing. You will not have to worry excessively about grammar. You goal is to get the information "on paper" as clearly and completely as you can. Your editor will suggest changes to polish the text.
So don't fear your editor. Make your editor part of your writing team.
Love Your Editor
Hire Your Editor Early in the Project
Hire your editor early in the life of the project. There are at least two benefits to hiring the editor early:
* First, your editor will be prepared for the editing task. He/she will have had time to get to know the product, target audience, and your organization's style guide.
* Second, your editor can help you with your writing, as I describe below...
Let Your Editor Help You
If you run into problems about how to write something, call on your editor. Most likely your editor can provide an effective wording to get you around your block. That's one reason why you got the editor on the project early. Here's another...
A Recommendation
I recommend that you work on small
Did you know that you can make hefty profits from that valuable content you paid a web content provider or online writer to get done some time back? It’s absolutely true. In fact there are 5 different ways that you can cash in on your current content lying around at your site getting stale.You see the web really puts a premium on creativity and creative people and only the creative thrive and end up making lots of cash online. There are really no two ways about it. But the good news is that it is easy to get creative, sometimes all you need to do is read articles like this one you are taking in right now and then simply find a way to apply the ideas to your site.There are numerous and enormous benefits in learning how to make money from the content your already have or are churning out at great expense for your site or blog. In fact by simply learning how to turn a prof
If you think about it, most people reading the User Documentation for any product are under some form of stress:
* they either want to get on with using the product, or
* something has gone wrong.
A formal document will put the User off. The document should not be silly or flippant; however, it should provide the information that the User needs in a conversational, easily understood style. The needed information should be easy to find.
Although most word processor grammar checkers are woefully inadequate, many of these checkers can be made to provide a readability score (you may have to set an option to enable this feature). Editing should help increase the readability (indicated by a decrease in the reading grade level) of the document. If editing increases the reading grade level, ask your editor why that score has changed.
What to Do
Provide your editor with the information that will enable him/her to do the best job. Here are some things to tell your editor:
* The intended audience for the User Document
* Tell your editor that you want an informal style of User Document
* What style manual or guide to be used in editing
* Scheduling and progress of the project
* Format for sharing and editing the text (make sure the editor can read your electronic documents -- do this when you hire the editor)
(Whenever you are dealing with someone outside your organization, you must have a signed non-disclosure agreement. This is in addition to any other contractual items between the outsider and your organization.)
Get to Know Your Editor
Your editor is NOT your school teacher. In your school days, your teacher-as-editor was a judge. Your goal was to impress your teacher with your writing. You were working for a grade. Thus you may have come to fear your editor.
Change your thinking! Now, your editor is on your side. Your editor will work with you to produce the best possible writing. You will not have to worry excessively about grammar. You goal is to get the information "on paper" as clearly and completely as you can. Your editor will suggest changes to polish the text.
So don't fear your editor. Make your editor part of your writing team.
Love Your Editor
Hire Your Editor Early in the Project
Hire your editor early in the life of the project. There are at least two benefits to hiring the editor early:
* First, your editor will be prepared for the editing task. He/she will have had time to get to know the product, target audience, and your organization's style guide.
* Second, your editor can help you with your writing, as I describe below...
Let Your Editor Help You
If you run into problems about how to write something, call on your editor. Most likely your editor can provide an effective wording to get you around your block. That's one reason why you got the editor on the project early. Here's another...
A Recommendation
I recommend that you work on small
I've just finished two revisions of copy I’m writing for an Ontario dental clinic. Here's the thing…The revisions didn't come from the client -they came from the dental advisory board in Winnipeg. Nice people, tough guidelines.I’ve read that the guidelines are less strict than they used to be since one ad agency took the advisory board’s restrictions on advertising to the Supreme Court of Canada. It was decreed that indeed certain guidelines were violating freedom of speech.Like most censorship, it's not about what the general public wants, but what a few select people determine. In this case, other dentists who don't like their colleagues competing with intelligent marketing.I tried to follow the pamphlet they sent me as best I could. Nonetheless, they still ended up requesting over 40 changes. A few points I agreed with. Others... well, here's an example
* The intended audience for the User Document
* Tell your editor that you want an informal style of User Document
* What style manual or guide to be used in editing
* Scheduling and progress of the project
* Format for sharing and editing the text (make sure the editor can read your electronic documents -- do this when you hire the editor)
(Whenever you are dealing with someone outside your organization, you must have a signed non-disclosure agreement. This is in addition to any other contractual items between the outsider and your organization.)
Get to Know Your Editor
Your editor is NOT your school teacher. In your school days, your teacher-as-editor was a judge. Your goal was to impress your teacher with your writing. You were working for a grade. Thus you may have come to fear your editor.
Change your thinking! Now, your editor is on your side. Your editor will work with you to produce the best possible writing. You will not have to worry excessively about grammar. You goal is to get the information "on paper" as clearly and completely as you can. Your editor will suggest changes to polish the text.
So don't fear your editor. Make your editor part of your writing team.
Love Your Editor
Hire Your Editor Early in the Project
Hire your editor early in the life of the project. There are at least two benefits to hiring the editor early:
* First, your editor will be prepared for the editing task. He/she will have had time to get to know the product, target audience, and your organization's style guide.
* Second, your editor can help you with your writing, as I describe below...
Let Your Editor Help You
If you run into problems about how to write something, call on your editor. Most likely your editor can provide an effective wording to get you around your block. That's one reason why you got the editor on the project early. Here's another...
A Recommendation
I recommend that you work on small
Reminder emails are an excellent way to garner additional registrations and keep people interested in your event. But did you realize they can also add greater value for your attendees?The BasicsMost online registration systems have options for automated reminder emails at time frames that you determine. Use this capability to increase your attendance, develop more rapport, and increase referrals. Reminder emails keep your registrants interested and looking forward to your event.Getting More From Your MailThe super-charging trick is to give additional value in these emails… a tasting of a topic that will be covered at the event, an article from one of the speakers, an industry whitepaper, or hard-hitting controversial questions facing the industry. You're not giving away the cow by passing out free samples of the milk. If people ar
So don't fear your editor. Make your editor part of your writing team.
Love Your Editor
Hire Your Editor Early in the Project
Hire your editor early in the life of the project. There are at least two benefits to hiring the editor early:
* First, your editor will be prepared for the editing task. He/she will have had time to get to know the product, target audience, and your organization's style guide.
* Second, your editor can help you with your writing, as I describe below...
Let Your Editor Help You
If you run into problems about how to write something, call on your editor. Most likely your editor can provide an effective wording to get you around your block. That's one reason why you got the editor on the project early. Here's another...
A Recommendation
I recommend that you work on small pieces of the User Document, and circulate these small pieces (rough drafts) to the development team for comments. Then use their comments to improve the writing, and re-circulate the improved material. Continue this for a few cycles. I call this "Iterative, Interactive Writing." This is an effective method for writing quickly and accurately.
If you feel uncomfortable about circulating rough drafts to the product development team for review, here's a solution. Have your editor perform a quick edit of the rough draft before you circulate it for comments. Your "drafts" will look quite good, and the development team will concentrate on the content, not the wording or grammar (and comments about content are you want from the team).
The Bottom Line
Don't think of your editor as an enemy lurking at the end of your document production path. Instead, realize that your editor can be a valuable member of your writing team, and is on your side. He/she should:
* Be brought onto the writing project early
* Be kept aware of the status of the writing project
* Be used as a writing, as well as an editing, resource
TIP: It is much more enjoyable for the writer (you) to work with "marked-up" electronic documents, rather than marked-up printed documents. Investigate your word processor's "multiple reviewers" capability. To employ this capability requires that you and your editor use the same or compatible word processing software.
NOTE: I am not an editor, nor do I represent any editors. But as a writer, I value editing.
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