2. Working With an Editor
Writers should allocate time for editing when creating the documentation plan. The nature of the document and the schedule will determine how much editing is possible. See "Scheduling" in Appendix B, "Developing a Publications Department," for more details.
Consider these points:
- You can involve the editor as early as the research stage. The editor can help you with research on how similar products are handled and who the audience is.
- The editor can help you prepare your documentation plan. Consult the editor if you want advice on overall organization. Go over your editing needs with the editor and include editing cycles in the schedule.
- The alpha review is a good time for a full developmental edit. Beta review is usually too late to make the kinds of changes that may come out of a developmental edit.
- A copy edit at the beta review can clean up grammar, spelling, and conformance to your company's style standards.
- Proofreading at first customer ship (FCS) provides one last check for formatting issues and typos.
Your manager should maintain an editing schedule for your writing group, which is submitted regularly to the editor assigned to your group. As your submission date or other information (such as page count) changes from the information in the documentation plan, you should let your manager know so that the updated information can be included in the group editing schedule.
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