Re: What to look for in a technical editor

[Chris <cud -at- telecable -dot- es>]

Time for my 0.02 euros...  What to look for in a technical editor is a 
rational relationship.

I have *never* worked with an editor who rewrote my work for me - 
editors mark up existing work and *I* rewrite it.  So the editor marks 
up troublesome passages, and it's up to me to fix them.  In other words, 
the editor defers to my technical expertise.  Even in a situation where 
the editor has been in-house for years and I'm new, the assumption is 
that I have entered into the deepest level of detail in a product or 
subject, and so I am the one to make the changes and take responsibility 
for technical accuracy.  (I have been in situations where the editor 
knew more than I - in that case I listened carefully, but I also 
verified whatever assertions before basing my copy on them.  That goes 
for dev and Q/A engineers as well as editors...  Verify, verify, verify.)

Also, I have *never* worked with an editor who insisted on a structure 
or passage that I could demonstrate was technically inaccurate.  And I 
have worked with at least one of the editors who has responded to this 
thread.

Editors are very similar to everybody else on your team - we're all the 
same type of organism.  Work is a social thing.  Establish good 
relationships.
--
Chris Despopoulos, maker of CudSpan Freeware...
Plugins to Enhance FrameMaker & FrameMaker+SGML
http://www.telecable.es/personales/cud/
cud -at- telecable -dot- es


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Robohelp X3, from eHelp, lets you quickly and easily create 
professional Help systems for all your Windows and Web-based 
applications, including Net. 

Order RoboHelp X3 in May and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, PLUS
free RoboScreenCapture and WebHelp Merge Module. 

Order RoboHelp today: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.