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Comprehensive Editing Review and Editing for Organization

Comprehensive Editing Review and Editing for Organization. TECM 5195 Dr . Chris Lam. Comments vs. Editorial Changes. A matter of editorial judgment The more practice you have, the better you’ll become at deciphering the most appropriate edit They should be used together at times

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Comprehensive Editing Review and Editing for Organization

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  1. Comprehensive Editing Review and Editing for Organization TECM 5195 Dr. Chris Lam

  2. Comments vs. Editorial Changes • A matter of editorial judgment • The more practice you have, the better you’ll become at deciphering the most appropriate edit • They should be used together at times • For edits that require “more” judgment, provide an explanatory comment • Balancing act: Client expects changes, but you don’t want to overedit

  3. Make Style edits • We’ll hear from presenters next week about style topics, but some general guidelines for style edits • IF there is a reason for changing the style of a sentence, just change it. Don’t merely suggest changing it. • Don’t be afraid to make a change. If you feel like the change will be “controversial”, add a comment politely explaining the change. • Same goes for organizational edits. Make the change and add a comment: • “I moved your work experience to the top because the job ad specifically asked for experience that you possess. It’s best to highlight this experience immediately.”

  4. Example of Style Edits • Original: “Participated in a special and creative workshop for outstanding and exceptional students.” • Revised: “Participated in exclusive workshop for exceptional students.” • Original: “The money was counted daily in amounts totaling nearly $5 million dollars.” • Revised: “I counted money daily totaling $5 million dollars.”

  5. Comment Phrasing • Possible to be over polite and not direct enough • Be careful phrasing every comment “Consider” • Remember, only phrase comments as questions if they are questions • Use authority, but use it politely • In order to do this, you have to be confident with your editorial skills and you have have to have a reason for making the change (besides preference)

  6. Importance of Organization • In nearly every document, organization can be improved • Makes information easy to learn and easy to use • Beyond comprehension and usability, organization can change user attitude

  7. Multiple Levels of Organization • Content organization (throughout the entire document) • Paragraph organization (organizing ideas within a single paragraph)

  8. Principles of Content Organization • Follow pre-established document structures • Anticipate reader questions and needs • Arrange information from general to specific and familiar to new • Apply conventional patterns of organization • Group related material • Use parallel structure for parallel sections

  9. Follow Pre-Established Document Structures • Some documents can be structured by an entity outside of the writer (e.g., RFPs, organizational manual) • Some documents have widely accepted document structures (e.g., Scientific research paper- IMRaD, Resume and job letter)

  10. Anticipate Reader Questions and Answers • Considering the reader is as important for an editor as it is for a writer • Ask key questions from the reader’s perspective: • What is this document? • What is it about? • Why is important and why should I care? • How do I get started?

  11. Arrange from General to Specific and Familiar to New • Familiar information helps readers contextualize and ultimately learn new information • Look at the document holistically and start at the beginning • Look at chapters/sections/paragraphs

  12. Use Conventional Patterns of Organization • Chronological, spatial, comparison-contrast, and cause-effect • Patterns reflect relationships of information and not externally imposed patterns • Chronological good for narratives, instructions, and process descriptions • Spatial good to describe 2D and 3D objects or spaces (e.g., orientation to a software system) • Comparison-contrast good to help users weigh options (e.g., recommendation report) • Cause-effect can be good to help readers make decisions (e.g., feasibility study)

  13. Group Related Material • Avoid mixing unrelated information (within chapters, sections, paragraphs, and sentences) • Can be accomplished by establishing a controlling idea in every paragraph • Lists should be developed meaningfully rather than randomly • Grouping material also reveals hierarchy

  14. Use Parallel Structurefor Parallel Sections • Parallelism can be applied at multiple levels: sentence, paragraph, section, chapter, and document

  15. Paragraph Organization • Link sentences to create cohesion (Given/New Pattern) • Repeat or use variations of key words to keep a paragraph focused • Build transitions by using transition words (coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions)

  16. Helpful Tips • Use the TOC function in word to reveal document hierarchy • Continually ask yourself: does this make sense? What is this (sentence, paragraph, section, document) about? • Organization can be difficult because it sometimes feels “abstract” • Always fall back on simple edits first (e.g., introduce meaningful headers, introduce a numbering system, use given-new principle, begin a paragraph with a controlling sentence, use transition words)

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