FW: wording for training materials

["Anita Lewis" <anital -at- threerivers-cams -dot- com>]

See my comments inserted below:

Anita Lewis
Customer Training and Support
Three Rivers Systems, Inc.
St. Louis, MO

Questions:

>1. I expect that a writer, whether a junior or a senior, should be able to
>make all the editing changes marked on a document without missing several.
>Is this really too much to expect?

No, I don't think this is too much to expect.  On a 500 page doc, I had to make corrections, and to keep track of them I placed a check mark in a different color than the editor's marks and then dated and initialed each page completed.  After I finished, I went back through to make sure all edits had been addressed.    


For those of you who have an editor (or are the editor), how many
>editing passes typically occur? Does the editor typically perform a final
>pass on each doc before it is published? Is the editor expected to sign
>off on each doc before it is published?

As the editor, I used standard proof marks and wrote comments if something was unclear.  I typically only edited so things adhered to the style guide, or, in extreme cases of garbled text, I'd mark it as rewrite phrase.  Depending on the writer, I sometimes offered a suggested correction, but I always noted it as that, a suggestion.  I've had a couple of writers argue their point or inquire why something was changed.  I just worked it out as best I could, and sometimes things got changed, and sometimes things didn't.  I'd make two or three passes depending on the time I had and who else was looking at it.  The writer had the final pass, unless there were some weird circumstances involved.  

>4. Others have stated that writers who deliberately ignore changes
>requested by the editor should be reprimanded. (Note: this action has been
>recommended when the editor is the manager, or when it is clearly
>understood that the editor has final say.) How is this typically handled
>in your group? Does the editor/manager pull the writer aside and say "hey,
>Joe, you need to start making those editorial changes"? Is the writer's
>work then carefully monitored for the next few projects? How *do* you
>handle this without crossing the line into dictatorship?

I'd let the manager handle situations like this.  I was not in a managerial position (nor will I ever be).  I'd let the manager know what the situation was and washed my hands of it from that point.  As the person being edited, if I was unclear or had argument, I'd communicate that to the editor, but I usually accepted their decision as final.  Let people do their jobs was my theory.      


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