TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Flashpoint of the week: editors and writers egos? (Take II)
Subject:Flashpoint of the week: editors and writers egos? (Take II) From:Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 15 Mar 2004 14:47:30 -0500
Dick Margulis observed, in passing: <<One other thing. Red is for
schoolteachers. Blue is for editors.>>
This varies greatly among authors; in my experience, the only ones who
have any difficulty with red ink are prima donnas who have problems
with the editing process as a whole. But that's neither here nor there.
It does, however, suggest strongly that Lisa should consider moving her
editing process onscreen. Onscreen editing has two great advantages in
Lisa's context:
First, if you're using Word (presumably other software too), the choice
of how to display the edits (color, format, etc.) can be set
independently by each user. If you like fluorescent pink edits, you can
probably coerce your software into showing you edits in this manner.
Second, you can (in Word) toggle quickly between concealing and
displaying the tracked changes. This lets you (respectively) see only
the results of the edits and how you got to those results. Sometimes
authors are much happier just seeing the results, without having to
wade through all the red (or chartreuse or whatever) ink. That's doubly
true if they can reveal the edits only when something looks wrong.
--Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
ROBOHELP FOR FRAMEMAKER AS LOW AS $299! Offer expires March 31.
Publish your FrameMaker documents online -- quickly and easily!
New licenses are only $899 for one and $499 for additional licenses.
Use a competitor's product? Switch to RoboHelp for FrameMaker
for only $299! Buy today: CALL 1-800-462-4420 or 1 858-847-7900.
Hurry, offer expires March 31 2004.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -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.
