Editor’s Note: A version of this article was originally published in the STC Notebook in January 2014 as part of 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.
Have you ever had the experience in daily life where someone gave you instructions for a certain task, and upon trying to follow them, you found them to be incomplete and inaccurate?
That’s not meant to be as rhetorical as it sounds, because I will add that when you pointed out to the provider where the instructions went awry, did they ignore your helpful suggestions and continue to use the same inadequate instructions?
For example, my church offers CPR training to members who volunteer to be “first responders” on a rotating basis in our Sunday services. The training sessions were originally held at a local hospital. The first couple of times I attended this training, the directions to the training location inside the hospital were confusing at best, incorrect at worst.
“Take elevator from garage to Plaza Level “P” under garage,
Go through double doors to Education Center.
Veer left behind double doors”
Upon finally reaching the correct room, I complained that the map to parking in the hospital complex was vague, the elevator in the parking garage was not where the instructions indicated it would be, there was no “Plaza Level” or level “P”, and once I found the elevator and managed to get off at the correct floor, there was no clear indication of where the classroom was.
After that ordeal, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind to learn CPR! And I wasn’t the only one who had trouble finding the place. Surely, they would revise these instructions to be more accurate for the next time.
But when I signed up for the required training again two years later, I received the following directions:
“Parking is best in the Visitors Parking Garage located between Henderson (east) and Fifth Ave (west). At the north end of each floor is the elevator which will take you to Plaza Level on which the Education Center is located.”
Didn’t sound like much of an improvement to me. I was not hopeful that I’d have any better luck this time. A follow-up email from the organizer repeated those directions, and added, “There are directions to the classrooms. I will be there early and will help find lost sheep!!” So he knows the directions are inadequate, but rather than rewrite the directions to be useful, his response is to try to find people who become lost trying to follow them?
This time when I expressed the difficulty that I had with the directions, the response was a cheerful, “But you found it.” Another, more disgruntled attendee got a similar brush-off, “But you’re here now.”
As an editor, I often wonder why my freely given suggestions in a non-work setting are not accepted and acted upon. I’m offering my technical expertise for free! I don’t understand why it doesn’t occur to the recipients to use it to improve their product.
Is it because they didn’t ask to be edited in the first place and therefore were not receptive to such? Do they not understand that my comments imply that changes are needed? Are my suggestions not provided to them in a useful format? Maybe it’s just not important to them?
I suppose if it’s that important to me, I should take the time to return to the hospital, trace the steps in the directions, and revise them to be accurate, especially considering that the hospital renamed the parking garage floors after animals some years ago! Without this kind of useful input from someone who takes the time to suggest specific changes, what do you think are the chances that the directions will be any better next time?
Granted, in these daily life scenarios, we are most likely not dealing with professional writers who should know to do better.
My point is two-fold. A comment and a question.
- If you want to see changes implemented with the benefit of your expertise, especially in a non-work setting, you’ll probably need to be explicit to the point of doing it yourself. Make sure that you provide your input with a helpful attitude so that it’s received as such.
- Why, oh why, do people perpetuate mistakes or inadequate information after they’ve been pointed out? I don’t get it. I’d like you know what you think.
P.S. The CPR training is no longer held at the hospital. It is held at the church where we’re not as likely to get lost!
Paula Robertson has learned her editing skills over a long and varied career, while swapping among the various titles of writer, editor, and designer. No matter what her current job title, she has earned the right to call herself the Full-service Editor, because of her ability to review text and graphics as cohesive parts of a whole. In STC, her current job title is facilitator for the Solo Technical Communicator SIG/COI. You can reach her at: solotechnicalcommunicator@gmail.com