Writing in a large organization is usually done “by committee.” That’s a challenging process at the best of times. After doing a first pass, which almost invariably contains more edits than the writers expected, I’m often asked to sit down (these days, virtually) and work though my comments with them. …
Recently, I’ve seen some problems involving global text edits that were easily solved with Microsoft Word’s Advanced Find and Replace feature. Spending some time learning the ins and outs of this feature will more than pay off when you’re able to do something in minutes that would take you hours …
This post is part of a series of case studies by and for in-house editors. The focus of this series is on the personal experiences and various roles of in-house editors. If you’re interested in writing a post for this series, please email the Member Services Committee. One of the reasons our …
UX stands for “user experience.” It’s the discipline that looks at how users navigate (usually digital) interfaces and tries to maximize fluency. In-house editors will often find themselves wearing many hats, especially in smaller organizations. I know I’ve often been asked to edit not just web copy but also text …
This article is part of a series that looks at lessons one can draw from some of the research collected in Aaron Dalton’s “Empirical Research for Editors” list. “Fluency” refers to how easy or difficult it is to do or process something. I interpret the science in this area through …
This article is part of a series that draws lessons from some of the research collected in Aaron Dalton’s “Empirical Research for Editors” list. Do you have the curse of knowledge? The “curse of knowledge” is a type of cognitive bias where someone unknowingly assumes, while communicating, that their audience …
I had occasion recently to teach someone how to write effective editorial comments. It was an interesting exercise as it forced me to articulate principles I had absorbed over many years, some learned from painful experience. Here’s what came to mind: Know your place. My job is to help the …
I’ve spent most of my career in-house. Currently I work with dozens of individual authors from all across the organization on a diverse array of document types. Though our editorial team works as a pool, a certain degree of specialization is unavoidable. We need to be able to record and …
I used to speak of plain language in terms of it being “the right thing to do” and also the most effective thing to do from a utilitarian perspective (i.e., it gets results). But then I came across Russell Willerton’s book Plain Language and Ethical Action: A Dialogic Approach to …
Background I’m an in-house editor for the Alberta Energy Regulator. Authors are required to work with our group as they move towards publishing their documents. It’s essential that we cultivate and nurture relationships of respect and trust. One element of that is always being able to rationalize and justify our …