TECHNICAL EDITORS Jacks-of-All-Trades or Deep Divers?

Sarah Fürstenberger

Molecular Health GmbH

SO, WHAT THE HECK DO YOU DO ALL DAY?

WHAT THE HECK DO YOU DO ALL DAY?

Source: dilbert.com

• Source: „ Technical Editing: The Practical Guide For Editors And Writers” by Judith Tarutz (1992); engrish.com

“Editing involves these activities: reading critically and

objectively; reading from the audience’s point of view; questioning what you read and reacting to it; verifying, checking, and testing; evaluating usability; and judging the appropriateness for the intended use and audience. “

You don’t have to be a grammar queen or a punctuation prince. Just be aware of how language is used and have an eagle eye for inconsistency and lack of clarity. Helping people communicate better is always the goal.

• Professional editors are generally intrigued by language.

• Passion for detail and accuracy.

• Drawn to editing because they can't ignore the mistakes they see in publications.

• Successful editors turn love of language into a way to earn a living and have an impact on the world around them.

• Source: http://www.editors.ca/join_eac/be_an_editor/so.html

WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE MAKE GOOD EDITORS?

An editor must have:

• An instinct for recognizing patterns, organizing ideas and creating categories

• A willingness to question assumptions, theories and facts

• An interest in learning new things

• Source: http://www.editors.ca/join_eac/be_an_editor/so.html; Judith Tarutz

What else?

• Visualize the end product while focusing on and remembering details

• Think logically and exercise good judgment

• Reorganize a document to achieve clarity and momentum

• Recognize what's missing in a passage

• Use a wide range of reference materials

• Work within deadlines

• Keep an eye on the budget

• Work well with the many other people who are a part of the publication process

• Source: http://www.editors.ca/join_eac/be_an_editor/so.html

Editors come from a variety of different backgrounds, but they are all skilled at developing effective communications tools by identifying the most appropriate structure, format and content for each audience and purpose. Ultimately, editors are people who think, and they do so on behalf of both the writer and the reader.

Editors think for a living "To be a really good editor, you have to be a really good listener. I don't only mean to the author…. You have to listen to what you're reading." Ellen Seligman, Publisher (Fiction) and Senior Vice President, McClelland & Stewart

• Source: http://www.editors.ca/join_eac/be_an_editor/so.html

MY PATH TO EDITING

• Loved writing and reading from a very young age

• Studied German and English Literature at the University of Michigan

• During college, spent my last year abroad in Freiburg, Germany

• My first job was as a translator, writer, desktop publisher and editor at a publishing house in Germany – focusing on roof tiles and bricks

• Back in the States, I taught German for the University of Detroit Mercy, translated, and edited.

• I also held cultural training seminars in Detroit for Daimler Chrysler

• At Volkswagen, I wrote, edited, and translated owner‘s manuals

• Back in Germany, I edited papers for medical journals, then started as a translator for SAP

MY PATH TO EDITING

• In 2010 I started editing and translating papers for the Leibniz University of Hanover (Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik)

• Moved to Ireland to take a job as a Technical Editor at IBM for a team in Krakow

• 2013 Back to Germany: Taught English, taught German, edited and translated for Volkswagen, did relocation consulting

• 2014 Started at Molecular Health as a Senior Technical Editor. Now in charge of: • Writing documentation for the medical device

• Editing, translating and writing marketing material

• Hiring translators and checking quality

• Project management of translation work

• Supporting marketing with communications in English

• Editing curation documents and presentations for customers

• And more…

MY PATH TO EDITING

JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES?

• Many people shy away from technical editing because they feel like they have to know it all.

• Do we need engineers to edit car manuals? Can engineers write?

• Professional writers and editors have a different view.

• Do you need expert knowledge to edit?

• Is specializing in one area the way to go if you want to be an editor?

• Some would argue that you do.

GENERALIST OR SPECIALIST

Steven Demaio thinks that specialists make better editors. His arguments:

• Specialists can focus on a smaller product and application set, which leads to a greater depth in skills and knowledge • If you work with the same products and/or applications most of the time, you

acquire a higher level of knowledge.

• The more experience you have with a product, the more you know about it.

• Not so much research

• More familiar with the system

• Can excel and have confidence in what they do, another self-motivating factor.

• HOWEVER, it can be tedious to edit and write for the same product, day after day.

BENEFITS OF SPECIALISTS?

• Source: http://stevendemaio.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/are-you-a-specialist-or-a-generalist-editor/

• Technical editors can take advantage of their nonknowledge to provide a critical review of the information

• Can find logic breaks, missing information, or areas of confusion.

• Use a beginner’s mind to untangle some highly technical information.

• We aren‘t talking about ignorance. Nonknowedge, as defined by William Germano in Lingua Franca is „a state of highly intelligent, nonspecialist engagement. That distanced, nonspecialist attentiveness is a key tool…”

• When we look at software, this nonknowledge can be an advantage.

• You still have to have technical skills. You have to put yourself in the shoes of the user.

• But if you think like a beginner, you see the holes and the questions and the ambiguity.

GENERALIST OR SPECIALIST: THE CONCEPT OF NONKNOWLEDGE

• https://techeditors.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/nonknowledge-intelligent-nonspecialist-engagement/

• My “areas“: engineering, medicine, business, IT, English lit, and more IT

• I am a techie person: I am not afraid to try things out.

• When I started my new job, I had to really learn a whole new set of vocabulary and some crazy science.

BEING A GENERALIST

• Every day you ask questions. I am surrounded by people who know (SMEs, in a sense).

• You don‘t have to understand everything to know when something is wrong with the user guide.

• You see things that the scientists don‘t see. They understand what is meant, so they don‘t see the vagueness and ambiguity.

• My first job was a journal specializing in roofing tiles! Who knows about that?

• The hardest area for me was cars. I had to rely on the experts to write the documentation, for the most part. I made sure it made sense. .

• IT is full of made-up, strange, and ambiguous terminology. Much of the job is putting on the brakes when developers just make up words.

BEING A GENERALIST

• As a generalist, I can use my knowledge about any number of things to ask the right questions.

• I am using my IT skills and my newly acquired science skills to find better ways to document the software.

• Remember, as a writer or as an editor, you are the expert on language. Ask questions!

• Developers are not infallible. And they think like developers. You need to

represent users.

GENERALISTS ASK QUESTIONS

• Source: dilbert.com

ACTING AS THE USER: THE GENERALIST AND THE UI

• So what does UI design have to do with YOU? • You might be a tech writer in a small company. • You might be the only one who thinks about users. • You might be the one who needs to keep the message clear. • You might be in charge of terminology.

• Even if you are in a big company, you could be involved in UI design meetings. • Ask! Get into the process at the beginning, when they are working on mock-ups and

deciding what to call stuff. • It is much easier to change it in the beginning than it is well everything is don. • Use your voice and make yourself known.

USER INTERFACE DESIGN AND YOU

• Source: http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/10-user-interface-design-fundamentals

• Some companies (like IBM) have very strict rules, and you have to keep them all in your head or to be able to find them quickly.

• Always keep the user in mind.

• Don‘t think like a developer. Don’t think like a computer.

• Don‘t annoy the user. The right help in the right place.

• Don‘t let developers write cryptic error messages.

• Consistency is key. You might be responsible for thinking about giving users the same experience throughout your software.

UI EDITING

•

UI DESIGN AND YOU

• Source: Dilbert.com

THE NITTY GRITTY

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WHERE TO START?

• Source: dilbert.com

- Audience? Patients or doctors? Admins or beginners?

- If you have to read a sentence twice, it needs help

- John McIntyre from the Baltimore Sun newspaper says to his undergraduates in a copy editing course: „You will learn to read analytically, and the best way to start is to pay close attention to your own reactions as a reader. When you stumble over a word or phrase, you do not shrug and keep moving, like a pianist who hits a wrong note during a concert. You stop, back up, and examine why you stumbled. When you find yourself bored, you stop to ask why the text is so boring. Part of your job as an editor is to represent the interests of the reader, and your own responses as a reader will steer you toward the problem patches.”

- Comment!

- Eliminate ambiguity.

HOW I EDIT: THE NITTY GRITTY

• Source: Baltimore sun (FIX)

- Don’t be afraid to bend the rules.

- Cut out any unnecessary words.

- Don‘t use a long word when a short one will do.

- Always remember your audience. If you are speaking to beginners, they may need more explicit instructions. Experts will be annoyed by them. Separate the two out if possible.

- Watch for inconsistency. (Spelling, terminology, capitalization). Inconsistency will cause readers to lose trust in you and in your product.

- Look it up: I have the Chicago Manual of Style at hand, but I also Google! Look at how many hits a certain phrase has. How is it capitalized, etc.

- See if words are being used in the right away. Find a definition. Use www.merriamwebster.com

- Make sure texts sound natural to your ears.

- You‘ll have the chance to run through the document again when your questions are answered. Use it.

HOW I EDIT: THE NITTY GRITTY

WRITING AND EDITING FOR INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES

• Language editing is editing for writers who are not writing in their native language

• A language edit is concerned with how ideas are expressed.

• Sentence complexity and use of active or passive verbs

• Conciseness

• Clear, logical development of ideas

• Use of jargon or technical terms only if appropriate for the intended audience

LANGUAGE EDITING

Source: http://www.jeanweber.com/newsite/?page_id=27

• Many companies are having documentation written in English by non-native speakers

• That means that the documentation usually requires a run-through by a professional editor or professional writer.

• Not every native speaker can edit your work!

• At IBM, for example, editors are doing the usual editing work for documentation, with some writers being non-native speakers of English.

• Even seemingly minor errors can cause great confusion, especially when the audience of your writing are also non-native speakers

INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES

• The clearer and more concise the language, the fewer problems users have with the software.

• Ambiguity in language or complicated jargon leads to support calls, or emails, or complaints on social media. All of these cost money.

• When software (or other products) is being translated, these ambiguities can lead to documentation or user interfaces giving different instructions or information depending on the language they are written in.

INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES

• John Kohl, author of „The Global English Style Guide“ has one cardinal rule:

• "Don't make any change that will sound unnatural to native speakers of English.“

• The corollary is: "There is almost always a natural-sounding alternative if you are creative enough (and if you have enough time) to find it!“

INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES

• Source: dilbert.com, John Kohl

WHERE COULD WE POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

• Source: engrish.com

THANK YOU!

Sarah Fürstenberger

Senior Technical Editor

Molecular Health GmbH | Belfortstr. 2 | 69115 Heidelberg, Germany @sarahfancy

+49.6221.43851-220

fuerstenberger@molecularhealth.com www.molecularhealth.de

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