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Jun28
Technical editors
A project I'm working on at the moment has led me to interact for the first time in my career with a Technical Editor.

Most companies I've worked for in the past have set up some kind of peer-review system for validating the style of my output and checking that it meets all the necessary corporate standards, and until now I've always relied on Subject Matter Experts (developers, product managers and the like) to ensure that what I write is technically correct.

What does a technical editor do exactly? Quite a lot, I'm discovering.

What are your experiences of working with technical editors? How does it differ from asking a programmer and checking the style guide?

4 Comments/Trackbacks




My experience is that it speeds up the technical writing process. I have only good experience working with technical editors but, like you, the experience is very limited.

It looks like you have worked with other editors before. Have you noticed any difference between an editor and a technical editor? I'm a technical editor, but mostly I edit for usability and style (the Microsoft style guide--pretty strictly).

Actually, Harry, I haven't noticed any difference at all so far - hence my question!

I think, for me, the main thing about my technical experience (besides knowing how to make example code easier to read without breaking it :-) is that I'm not intimidated by jargon. If I don't understand a sentence because of the words used, I don't assume I'm just uninformed and let it go because professionals will probably understand it. I check to see whether it REALLY HAS to be written like that, or whether the writer can explain it using intelligent but more easily understandable language.

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