Business writing clinic: Technical Writing in Ten Easy Steps

Kathy Lawrence, who runs the “Business Writing Clinic” blog, was clearing out old files when she came across a chapter she wrote for a book “Professional Communication and Information Design” (see link above for more details of the book). Her chapter, written with Ronald A. Brown, describes the technical editing process. Here’s a short excerpt from the introduction:

We’ve all had work edited. Sometimes we almost dread the process, imagining that the editor is a fierce critic who is just itching to condemn you for sloppy work and inconsistencies. But this is far from true. In reality, the editor is your friend, who wants to work with you to improve your document, whether it’s paper or electronic.

We look first at how you need to consider the document you are editing as a whole, and then focus on the nuts and bolts of the editing process.

The link at the top of this post will take you to the list of the “ten easy steps”, which I think seems pretty useful, especially if you are writing your first commissioned article, such as a review.