Re: What to look for in a technical editor

["Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- net -dot- au>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew Plato" <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com>

> That's great, except very few technical writers work in publishing
companies.
> They work at defense contractors, pharmaceutical companies, and software
firms,
> etc. None of which are interesting in becoming publishing firms.


Who said "company"? You did. Who said "firm"? You did.
A technical publishing operation can be a one-person shop,
and often is. That does not relieve the publisher of responsibility
for maintaining high standards of accuracy and usability.


> > Expecting subject-matter experts to be
> > intelligent and capable style editors, or expecting style
> > experts to have detailed technical knowledge of an
> > emerging technology, usually ends in unsatisfactory
> > outcomes for the consumer and, somewhat less
> > importantly, frustrating working conditions for writers.
>
> Here we go - another in the endless series of "ignorance is an asset"
> arguments. Except this one has no explanation of why. Just a blanket
"usually
> ends in unsatisfactory outcomes." Whatever that means. Perhaps it means,
> usually ends in the editor being fired for gross incompetence.
>
> Michael, why don't you explain how an editor who has no subject matter
> expertise is going to be more valuable that one who does? How can
ignorance of
> the content be MORE useful?



This is a good example of the uneven distribution of reading
and writing skills among so-called technical writers. I won't
waste time responding to questions about things I never
said in the first place. I've paraphrased my statement in
another post here -- that will have to do.

--
Michael West
Melbourne, Australia



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