Finding errors in manuals?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Michelle Vina-Baltsas wonders: <<I just found an error in one of the  
manuals I work on and I feel sick. Fortunately, the error does not  
pose the user any danger but it looks bad. What do you all do when  
this happens? I'm having a bad case of the "I'm not perfect" blues.>>

When in doubt, blame the SMEs and reviewers. <g>

Seriously? That's actually a valid answer if the product developers  
changed the software after telling you it was OK to print the manual.  
Nothing you can do about that other than whack them upside the head  
with a dictionary... or a clue club. You didn't specify the nature of  
the error, but a few thoughts:

None of us are perfect, and I say this as an editor with 20 years of  
experience and a pretty darn good rep for "missing nothing"... a  
reputation that is mostly deserved, with a few notable exceptions.  
The tighter the deadline and the more unreasonable the product, the  
more errors there will be. Soon as you realize your* not perfect, you  
can relax a bit and learn to accept that. Think how much worse the  
communication would've been if you hadn't been involved.

* See? <g>

Better still, pay attention to the nature of the error. If it's  
something that forms a predictable pattern, you can make a point of  
focusing on that pattern as you work; by learning to internalize that  
focus, you can learn to eliminate the error semi-automatically. But  
some errors are simply unavoidable, and there's nothing you can do  
about them other than grimace, fix the problem in the next version,  
and move on. If you don't have a strong review and revision process,  
and particularly if you don't employ a professional editor*, figure  
out how to implement such a system or hire an editor, permanently or  
on contract.

* Some writers make very good editors; many don't. But neither type  
of writer is as good as a really good editorial specialist.
You only get really good at the things you do most often, and nobody  
can both write and edit "most often".


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
--------------------------------------------------
Coming soon:  _Effective onscreen editing_ (http://www.geoff-hart.com/ 
home/onscreen-book.htm)

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