New Feature: A Little Humor!

Editing is a serious task – if done wrong, terrible things might happen.

As the official publication of the STC Technical Editing SIG, Corrigo is full of useful, serious information for technical editing practitioners.

But editing also has a lighter side, and we are delighted to announce a new feature that will spotlight the humorous side of our chosen profession.

Iva Cheung is a certified professional editor, indexer, print designer, and publishing consultant based in Metro Vancouver, B.C. She also draws comics about the editing life, and she’s graciously allowed Corrigo to publish them, which we will do on a monthly basis.

To see Iva’s previous comics, go to her website at https://www.ivacheung.com/. You can also follow her on Twitter (@IvaCheung).

To make it easier for you to find these comics again in the future, they will be tagged with the A Little Humor tag, and the titles prefaced with the same phrase.

Technical Editing Is Very Rewarding!

Are you familiar with the Technical Editing Active Member (TEAM) Rewards program?

On 28 January 2020 at 2 PM EST, join Marcia Shannon to explore opportunities to participate in the STC Technical Editing SIG in 2020–from elected offices to one-time contributions. Active members can earn recognition, a gift card, and the satisfaction of making our SIG a strong and useful community within STC.

This FREE online event is open to members and visitors. It’s a great way to learn about our award-winning SIG!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/watercooler-chat-team-rewards-in-2020-tickets-89110849951?ref=ecount

Conversation Starter: How Can We Better Determine an Editor’s Skill Before Hiring?

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 best way to test an editor’s skills before hiring.
The author here presents a number of thoughts and ideas, and wants to hear what others think about them, to know if you’ve had similar or counter experiences, and to learn about what other innovative measures you might be taking to solve the issue.


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.

By Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

We’ve got a problem in tech.

We require a lot of our editors, more so than is usual in other disciplines.

The editors who work in tech need to be clear and logical thinkers, but also nimble and creative. They often work in several content types, for various audiences. They may be thinking a brand-new project through from the beginning or evaluating one at an early milestone. They often participate in developing the very guidelines that they and the writers will be following. They may also develop templates, models, annotated samples, or other resources. When it comes to the editing itself, they may be called upon to restructure or rewrite, to tweak syntax or diction or tone, or simply to sort out the caps and sweep the commas into place. In short, tech editors are many types of editor in one. Nor are they told which role to play when, but most typically must themselves analyze the writing, judge what is needed, and determine how best to accomplish those tasks (insofar as is possible) in the given timeframe. Then, whatever the level of edit, as there will typically be no one else to do so, they’ll also be proofing their own work.

That’s some spectrum. How does one test for all of this beforehand?

Continue reading “Conversation Starter: How Can We Better Determine an Editor’s Skill Before Hiring?”

Coming Attractions: Let’s Talk about How to Test an Editor’s Skills before Hiring

What’s the best way to vet appropriate candidates for technical editing positions? Technical editing practitioners want to ensure that their skill sets are properly understood, and documentation managers want to feel confident that they’ve hired the best person.

As part of Corrigo‘s series of Conversation Starter articles, I’ve asked Odile Sullivan-Tarazi to start a conversation on this topic based on her personal experiences, both as a tester and as a testee. Her article will be published here on Corrigo on 14 January 2020.

To join in on what we hope will be a fascinating conversation, you can submit your own article on the subject to Corrigo (editor@stc-techedit.org), or you can write your thoughts the Comments section. If there are enough comments, we’ll collect them all and post them as an article as well.