About technical editing

Technical editing today covers far more than printed materials. Technical editors may be required to deal with:

  • Printed materials (for example, books, pamphlets, quick reference cards, reports)
  • Electronic materials (for example, online documentation, online help, web pages)
  • Video scripts
  • Computer-based training materials

In most cases, the audience for the material being edited is not composed of other technical people, and the editor is not the person responsible for ensuring the technical accuracy of the material.

In some cases, the technical editor is responsible for some technical accuracy. For example, when editing a user’s guide for a computer software program, the editor typically tests the written procedures using the software.

Technical editors work in a variety of fields, including:

  • Computer software and hardware
  • Engineering
  • Medicine
  • Sciences
  • Legal, banking and brokerage services
  • Website development for any business or activity

This section of the website includes the following pages.

Technical writing and technical editing

Working with a technical editor
What writers and editors can do to get the best results out of working together.
Who needs a technical editor?
The value and role of editors on a technical writing project.
Who needs a technical writer?
Why successful businesses need to use a professional writer’s services.
Choosing and using a technical writer
How to find and evaluate writers and make the best use of their expertise.
Ethics in scientific and technical communication
Summarises some general categories of ethical issues faced by technical editors.

What do technical editors do?

Escape from the grammar trap
A revised version of this article. Distinguish between essential and nonessential rules of grammar, punctuation, and usage.
Technical editors’ responsibilities
Job advertisements for technical editors in the computer software industry show some of the types of work, and the skills and knowledge required by editors.
The role of the editor in the technical writing team
What editors do; types of edit; interactions with the writing team.
The editor-writer relationship
Strategies for improving the editor’s relationship with writers.
Classifying editorial tasks
Rule-based and analysis-based editing.
What is substantive editing?
How substantive (developmental, comprehensive) editing differs from copyediting.
How long does editing take?
Guidelines for accurate estimation.
Different ways of working
How to organise the flow of writing, editing and reviewing tasks.
Do editors focus on the wrong things?
Too many editors focus on details instead of the bigger picture.

Telecommuting

Time zones can be your friend
Advantages of working with people in a distant location.
Marketing your remote editorial services
Things to discuss with a prospective client at a distant location.
Finding telecommuting editorial work
Tips for finding work through networking and creative marketing.
Taming a telecommuting team (version 1)
Advantages, disadvantages, principles and rules of successful telecommuting teams.
Taming a telecommuting team (version 2)
Slightly rewritten for a different publication.

Beyond copy-editing: the editor-writer relationship

by Marsha Durham, Lecturer, Department of Language & Interaction Studies, University of Western Sydney, Nepean (Australia), and Jean Hollis Weber, Freelance technical editor First published in Seminar 91: Working Smarter Not Harder (Proceedings of the Technical Communication Seminar, October 1991), NSW Society for Technical Communication, pp.47-50. Introduction Editing is often narrowly defined as making corrections …

Choosing and using a technical writer

Jean Hollis Weber Business Consulting News, November 1997, a web magazine (address no longer valid). Last month I discussed some reasons why successful consultants and business owners in technical fields need to use a professional writer’s services. I suggested that the right technical writer can add value to your business and probably save you money …

Classifying editorial tasks

Editorial tasks can be defined and classified in different ways; for example: Types and levels of edit Degrees of edit Literary and technical edits Rules-based and analysis-based edits (See Who needs a technical editor for more information about the types and levels of edit.) A classification into rules-based and analysis-based edits overlaps the others, by …

Different ways of working

What’s the best way to organise the division and flow of writing and editing work? I am familiar with several possibilities, depending on the individuals involved, the project, and the organisation. Some questions to consider: How many people are involved in the project? What are their skills levels? What are the time constraints? How much …

Do editors focus on the wrong things?

by Jean Hollis Weber Too many editors focus on the details and don’t pay enough attention to the bigger picture when reviewing documents. Is this statement true, or do writers, managers and others only perceive it to be true? If it is true, why does this happen? If it is not true, why do so …

Escape from the grammar trap

This article was originally published around 2000 and is available on the TechWhirl website. An earlier version of this article is archived here: https://jeanweber.com/about/grammar2.htm Printer-friendly version

Ethics in scientific and technical communication

by Jean Hollis Weber WISENET Journal 38, July 1995, pp. 2-4. For more than 20 years I have edited scientific and technical materials aimed at both specialist and general audiences. I have also done a lot of technical writing over the past 8 years and, more recently, taught professional writing (mainly technical writing). During this …

Finding telecommuting work

My paper titled Marketing your remote editorial services addresses many of the concerns that managers may have when considering a telecommuting arrangement, but it doesn’t say anything about finding possible jobs in the first place. I get a lot of mail asking for the secret to getting telecommuting freelance editing work. I’m sorry to say …

How long does editing take?

Accurate estimation is an important factor in running a successful business (or department). Whether you are paid by the hour or by the project, you need to have a reasonably good idea of how long you (or someone else) will take to edit a document. Even if money isn’t a problem, time may well be. …

Marketing your remote editorial services

by Suzanne Townsend and Jean Weber Blue Pencil, May 1998. (Newsletter of The Society of Editors (NSW) Inc.) Many thanks to Suzanne Townsend, a freelance editor and technical writer who teleworks from Nova Scotia, Canada. Suzanne co-wrote this article, which was first published in “Active Voice,” the national newsletter of the Editors’ Association of Canada, …

Taming a telecommuting team

by Jean Hollis Weber Proceedings 43rd Annual Conference, Society for Technical Communication, 1996, pp. 63-64. Reprinted in Keyword 6 (2), September 1996, pp. 9-10. "Telecommuting" includes situations where members of a group (department, team, other) are working in different locations, communicating with each other and with clients by phone, fax, and e-mail. The team may …

Taming a telecommuting team

by Jean H. Weber Intercom 43 (7), August/September 1996, pp. 22-23. (Society for Technical Communication) You’ve got agreement from your manager: you and your team of technical writers (plus editor) can work at home several days a week. You’ve organized your equipment (computers, modems, and so on). You’re looking forward to saving hours of driving, …

Technical editors’ responsibilities

I’m compiling a list of the things technical editors do. I’m looking at both what we do and the specifics of how we do it. Some roles are well-known, particularly in the publishing industry, but other roles are not well-defined. The term “technical editor,” for example, covers quite a range of roles and skills, from …

The role of the editor in the technical writing team

by Jean Hollis Weber Originally presented to Seminar 90: Bringing Technology Closer, and published in Proceedings of the Technical Communication Seminar, October 1990, pp. 67-69. (NSW Society for Technical Communication). Amended in November 2001 to include information relevant to online help, web sites, and other online materials. This paper covers: What editors do Types of …

Time zones can be your friend

by Jean Hollis Weber This article appeared in The Candidate, October 1998. A web magazine. “The Hiring Crunch – What’s a Manager to Do?” was the title of an article in the January issue of The Client. It included the suggestion that you “allow yourself to consider candidates outside your usual profile.” In addition to …

What is substantive editing?

In substantive editing (also known as developmental editing and comprehensive editing), the editor considers a document’s concept and intended use, content, organization, design, and style. The purpose is to make the document functional for its readers, not just to make it correct and consistent. Substantive editing is almost entirely analysis-based, whether at the document level …

Who needs a technical editor?

by Jean Hollis Weber Keyword 1 (2), May 1990, pp. 15-16. (Journal of the Australian Society for Technical Communication (NSW) Inc.) The short answer to this question is: Just about everyone who is involved in technical communications. Most technical communications professionals would probably agree with this statement, although there may be a few technical writers …

Who needs a technical writer?

by Jean Hollis Weber Business Consulting News, October 1997, a web magazine (address no longer valid). The short answer to this question is: just about everyone who needs to prepare written technical material. As a successful consultant or business owner in a technical field such as engineering or computing, you probably need to prepare a …

Working with a technical editor

This article was originally published around 2002. It is available on the TechWhirl website. Printer-friendly version