The Official Publication of the STC Technical Editing SIG
David W. McClintock
Speed-reading experts estimate that the average reader can absorb about 250 words per minute. They promote techniques that allegedly boost that rate to nearly 1,000 words per minute. Unfortunately, some folks may expect similar speeds for technical editing. After all, isn’t editing like reading? If so, a 20-page white paper should be edited in 20 minutes – or less.
Q. What is the Work menu in Microsoft Word 2000?
A. Don’t you hate it when you go to open a document from the “recently used” file list at the bottom of the File menu and you find that your document has dropped off the list?
Heather Hall
We know you want to make your documentation as useful to clients as you can. To help you achieve this goal, TE SIG member Heather Hall (Austin, Texas) compiled a list of 10 common documentation mistakes and what you, as an editor, can do to correct them.
Continue reading “How Can You Correct Common Documentation Mistakes?”
Julia Neunreiter
Just as fairy tales and fables soothed you as a child, so can they soothe you as an adult facing the prospects of layoffs, downsizing and restructuring.
Continue reading “Not So Grimm: Children’s Stories Prove Their Worth During Uncertain Job Markets”
Geoff Hart
“Political correctness is an oxymoron”—Jean-Marie Golsse
Even as we’re moving through the first decade of our new millennium, the “naughty aughties” as some wags have dubbed it [*1], we’re still dragging along plenty of baggage [*2] from the last century. For example, inadvertently using offensive or politically incorrect words remains one of those things that wakes editors, screaming, in the middle of the night.
Continue reading “Political Correctness for the “Naughty Aughties””