2.+Technical+Editing

= **2.**   **Technical Editing**=

**2.1 Overview**
All editors are responsible for helping to make writers effective, but technical editors work with technical subjects. Technical writing and editing consist of a variety of subjects, including but not limited to computer science, engineering, medical, scientific, government, agriculture, education and business. Technical editors often perform comprehensive editing that requires they be subject matter experts in the field of work they are editing. Generally, technical documents should answer questions and solve problems. This is often what distinguishes technical writing from other types of writing. Technical documents enable readers to act upon the information. Technical subject matter often denotes the method of working with the subject matter – to analyze, explain, interpret, inform, or instruct. //For more information//, see Rude pp. 15-16.

**2.2 Document Process**
Technical writers and editors use specialized knowledge to convey specialized information. There are a variety of document types that technical editors are involved in, including instruction manuals and online help, proposals, feasibility studies, research reports, and websites. The process of writing and editing may vary from person to person and each document type may require different life cycles. The process of writing generally follows five main stages. §  Planning and Researching §  Organizing and Drafting §  Improving the Style §  Designing §  Revising and Editing //For more information// about these stages, see Johnson-Sheehan pp. 19-35. 

** 2.3 Core Competencies **
The //Core Competencies for Graduate Students in Technical Communication//, developed by New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), illustrate the most important skills a technical communicators and editors should possess.

1. Overview 2. Technical Editing 3. Working with Writers 4. Types of Editing 5. Editing Technologies and Proofreaders' Marks 6. Editing for International Audiences
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