How to Write Editing Comments For Authors 

I spent some time as a technical editor for the US Army. I was responsible for editing very technical materials produced by engineers, scientists and technicians doing some very technical research. I learned quickly that one of the most valuable assets an editor has is the ability to “talk” to authors through comments. I want to talk about some of the things technical editors can do to make better comments using MS Word’s commenting feature.

Past research has suggested that comments—inserted directly into a document—are the second best thing when compared to face-to-face discussions between editors and authors. Because you can insert a comment right at the spot you want to talk about, an author gains context for the comment. It’s almost as if you point a finger at a spot and say, “right here…”

I always urge my technical editing students to insert as many comments as they can when editing. But what kind of comments should you insert? There are a few different kinds I try to write when editing someone’s work. The example below does a couple of things. First, it tells the author that I don’t understand the sentence or the meaning they were trying to relay. Second, it gives the author a suggestion for improving the sentence depending on what they were trying to say. Doing this is so important because it tells the author that you aren’t simply going to change the text without cause. It also helps the author by suggesting how to improve the sentence. Often authors will just go with my suggestion and be thankful for the extra effort.

The next comment (below) is perhaps one of the most important to include. This comment is simply telling the author to ensure the meaning of the sentence is still the same. I do this often, mainly because studies have found that one of the biggest complaints authors give about editors is that they change the meaning of the text through their emendations. To ward against this I tell authors, “hey, I made a bunch of changes here, check it to be sure.”

A last type of comment to include often, especially when you just begin working with an author, is one telling the author why you made a change. Another big complaint authors have is that editors make arbitrary changes just for stylistic or personal reasons (you just think your way sounds better). This ticks authors off to no end. So, if I don’t know an author very well I’ll include comments all over the place—especially in areas with lots of changes—to cite why I’m making a change to their text. As I grow to know the author, and they trust me more, I’ll taper off on the amount of these I include.

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Last update: 27-03-2009 13:37