How to edit other people’s content without pissing them off¶
Description
As an editor and a writing coach, I’ve seen people react badly to changes in their writing. I’ve learned to be as gentle with writers at work as I used to be with my kids when we were homeschooling. Adults don’t usually run out of the room crying when you edit their text, but some of them have looked like they wanted to.
Homeschooling depends on a good relationship with the kids. Forging a healthy relationship with my coworkers is just as necessary. Harsh and rigid editing annihilates the essential communication that needs to take place between us. Writers need to understand why I make edits and how those edits will improve the final content.
In this session, I will discuss ways that you can hone your diplomatic skills to match your editorial skills, whether you work as an editor full-time or only occasionally do peer reviews. This talk outlines the principles I use when editing and gives concrete examples of how I apply them at work and at home.
EDITING PRINCIPLE 1. WE’RE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE. As an editor, I’m not criticizing the person whose work I’m editing. No, I’m helping that writer achieve a goal: creating content that helps a customer get a job done. If the writer and I agree on the purpose of the edits, we can agree on a lot more.
EDITING PRINCIPLE 2. FOCUS ON WHAT THE CUSTOMER IS TRYING TO DO. Red Hat’s customers are frequently systems administrators and developers. When we write for them, content needs to match their needs, not our own. Usability testing and talking to support engineers both enable that kind of focus. Just like writing a novel is all about making the story flow, technical communication is all about making the User Story flow.
EDITING PRINCIPLE 3. EDITING IS A CONVERSATION, NOT AN EDICT. Some of my co-workers have had bad experiences with editors who changed content without understanding why the writers wrote it a particular way. I treat edits as a back-and-forth conversation, and I’ll show examples of these dialogs in my talk.
EDITING PRINCIPLE 4. EXPLAIN WHY. If I’m editing someone’s content, I take time to explain why I’ve made a particular edit. Granted, I can’t do this every time, but I sprinkle this kind of information throughout the document. Authors don’t care if I think it “sounds right” this way. Readability indexes, usability research, style guides, minimalism, and other objective tools are more persuasive than telling them to make a change “because I said so.” That approach didn’t work with my kids either.
EDITING PRINCIPLE 5. SEEK OTHER PEOPLE'S OPINIONS. You are not the only person who can fine-tune a piece of content. Seeking out other experienced writers to review a doc can give you insights that you would never have on your own. At Red Hat we do crowdsourced peer review sessions, and they have made me a better editor. This talk includes tips for leading an effective group peer review. If there are multiple possibilities for improving a piece of content, several people working together can sort out the optimal approach.
Being a good editor is a lot like being a good leader:
- You need to edit people’s content so that they WANT to make the changes that you want them to make.
- Conference: Write the Docs PORTLAND
- Year: 2019
