Author: Yoel Strimling

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Eye for Editing: Taking It Personally

by Paula Robertson

Editor’s Note: A version of this article was originally published in the STC Notebook in November 2013 as the third in a series. Over the course of 2022, we hope to publish more of these articles. To make it easier for you to find these articles again in the future, they will be tagged with the Eye for Editing tag, and the titles prefaced with the same phrase.

Skipping to what is one of the most important skills to have in editing, this month I want to talk about how we relate to the other person in the form of a review of their work. It may be a writer colleague, an engineer or software developer, your manager, the CEO, or a client. You might not have met the person or even know who they are. But you’re not just editing content. Reviewing someone else’s work can be a rather intimate way of relating to another human being.

Continue reading “Eye for Editing: Taking It Personally”
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Eye for Editing: Beyond Typos

by Paula Robertson

Editor’s Note: A version of this article was originally published in the STC Notebook in October 2013 as the second in a series. Over the course of 2022, we hope to publish more of these articles. To make it easier for you to find these articles again in the future, they will be tagged with the Eye for Editing tag, and the titles prefaced with the same phrase.

Continue reading “Eye for Editing: Beyond Typos”
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Of Interest: Editing Blind

Can you edit a document that you can’t even see?

Most technical editing practitioners might be surprised to hear that there are visually-impaired people who work as editors. But how is this possible?

On Thursday 10 February 2022 at 10 AM MT (click here for
your local time zone), join Erin Nightingale, a blind editor (her preferred terminology) who will talk about the obstacles she’s overcome and the tools she uses. Erin recently published an article called “An Editing Process for Blind or Visually Impaired Editors” in IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication.

This is a joint STC Technical Editing SIG, STC Accessibility COI,  STC Santa Barbara, and STC Los Angeles event, and is open to members and non-members.

To register for this event, click here.

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Eye for Editing: Learned or Innate?

by Paula Robertson

Editor’s Note: A version of this article was originally published in the STC Notebook in September 2013 as the first in a series. Over the course of 2022, we hope to publish more of these articles. To make it easier for you to find these articles again in the future, they will be tagged with the Eye for Editing tag, and the titles prefaced with the same phrase.

The Eye for Editing column explores the topic of editing—technical editing, editing as a skill, practical tips, personal stories, and whatever tangents that might lead us to. I hope to engage you in reflection to answer the question, “Do you have an Eye for Editing?”

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Conversation Starter: How Do You Feel About the Singular “They”?

Editor’s Note: As part of our Conversation Starter feature, we present what we hope is the first part of an ongoing discussion about the evolution of the English language, especially the use of gender-neutral pronouns.

Want to join the conversation? Email your thoughts to editor@stc-techedit.org, or write them in the Comments section at the end of this article. We’ll publish them in future issues.

Professor Jo Mackiewicz and Allison Durazzi of Iowa State University are studying how editors make editorial decisions about issues related to gender, and have put together a short survey about the use of the singular pronoun “they.” The findings of this study can help editors better understand how other editors make editorial decisions related to gender and pronouns.

This survey is a much shorter and easier-to-use version than one they distributed previously, and they think (or, at least, hope) that it will be thought provoking. It should take approximately 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the detail you provide in your responses.

To participate in this study, go to: https://iastate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2gdfd9eFWxBayb4

If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Mackiewicz (jomack@iastate.edu).