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by Bryce Musser

In the past two weeks in my Editing Technical Documents class, I explored author-editor relationships, tested Draftsmith and Word editing tools, and learned about style guides in technical documentation.

Author-Editor Relationships

After watching Dr. Kim’s video on editorial comments and author queries, I was surprised to learn that an editor’s ego often breaks down editor-author relationships, and that one-third of these relationships are problematic. This was surprising to me because you would think that editors would be more professional when working with their clients, but it turns out that based on client feedback, some edits are seen as poor quality, including over-editing, as well as adapting the editor’s personal style instead of the client’s.

In Sue Littleford’s article “7 golden rules for writing author queries,” she says author queries require humility and to “accept that you may have misread or misinterpreted something.” This is advice all editors should follow to avoid harming their reputation and client relationships, something I have tried to work on when editing other individuals’ work.

Experimenting with Editing Tools

Regarding editing, I explored the tools available in the Draftsmith program more thoroughly. I specifically focused on learning how to use the editor helper tool and the word count trimmer tool. I also learned how to use the Microsoft Editor tool in Microsoft Word.

I especially liked the editor helper tool because it focused on removing typos, redrafting, and polishing. The tool was easy to use, but if you are trying to navigate to different sections within your document, the Draftsmith tool is not very effective, as you will need to restart the program from the paragraph you want to access. Moving forward, I wish I knew how to use Draftsmith more effectively without having to constantly jump around between paragraphs to navigate my documents. I found the word count trimmer tool easy to use but only helpful in certain situations. If you are trying to cut content to meet a word count, that’s great, but be sure to keep the specific details that are essential to your document.

I found the Microsoft Editor tool in Word helpful for refining content but sometimes frustrating. When I used the tool, about half the time I couldn’t select spelling, grammar, and conciseness suggestions because the program wouldn’t let me click them, likely a software glitch. I wish I knew how to fix or bypass this glitch so I could use Microsoft Editor’s suggestions more reliably without interrupting my editing workflow. Otherwise, the suggestions were helpful, but since Word isn’t always accurate, I recommend reviewing each change carefully before accepting it.

Style Guides are Essential to a Technical Writing Career

Regarding my career goals, learning about style guides has been the most impactful.

I was fascinated to learn there are hundreds of style guides. According to Jean Hollis Weber, “Developing a Departmental Style Guide,” “Most decisions about writing style will probably be the same for all work done for a publications department, but some details may vary.” This information is relevant to my career goals because, as an aspiring technical writer, I will likely use style guides when writing and revising content.

As an aspiring technical writer, it’s important to know that a style guide focuses on how a document should look and be designed, rather than on the processes involved in working with the document, which should not be part of a style guide.

Applying the style guides and knowledge I’ve gained recently ensures my documents are compliant and boosts my chances of success as a technical writer. Understanding these boundaries will directly support my work on upcoming course assignments by helping me set clear scope standards when reviewing and revising documentation.