What To Look For In An Engineering Technical Writer And Editor

By Jocelyn Davidson


When it comes to choosing writers and editors for projects, you need the right person for the job. Not everyone can work with any kind of text. Some prefer working on fiction, for instance, while others are great at travel books. Certain areas are very specialized though. For example, if you're going to produce a book that engineers would use, you need an engineering technical writer and editor.

Ideally you would like a person who has a background in engineering. However, not many engineers are great with words. If you can't find someone who can communicate the technical know-how efficiently, it's often better to look for someone with a background in writing and editing instead.

One reason why engineers don't automatically make a good choice is that they may assume that their readers will already understand the concepts in the text. However, someone new to the field may not always know what certain terms mean. People with a background in writing and editing know this and will ensure that they explain every concept in a way that is easy to understand.

It's very important that the members of your team will know how to do research. Moreover, they should be prepared to do so and be willing to learn something new. They shouldn't just accept what one source says as fact but should cross-check different sources. If they can find ways to understand the different concepts, they'll be better able to explain these concepts in a way that will make it easier for their readers to grasp too.

Naturally you need to look at the candidates' grammar and spelling too. This is especially important when choosing someone to do the editing, since this person's job is to correct any grammatical and spelling mistakes the author may have made and to improve sentence structure to make the text more readable. However, you can save a lot of time and money by choosing an author who gets it right in the first place.

One thing to remember is that because your writing and editing team don't necessarily know much about the subject, factual errors may slip through. In a text for engineers this can have disastrous consequences. Therefore, as an extra measure of quality control, find a subject specialist, in other words an engineer, to go through the edited text to ensure it's accurate. This person doesn't need to look at the language but simply at the content.

Finding writers and editors with the right background can be done by contacting specialist employment agencies or websites. However, you need to thoroughly check the candidates' background and experience. Don't be afraid to ask for references and for samples of their work. Professionals won't be offended but will gladly provide these.

Finally, it helps to remember that, as with all things in life, you get what you pay for. If you're not offering market-related rates, the good writers and editors won't be interested in working for you. However, pay well and set realistic deadlines and you might have your pick of people who will be a real asset to your project.




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