VOLUME 33, NO. 2, FEBRUARY, 1956
THE EDUCATIONAL ROLE OF THE TECHNICAL EDITOR' D. S. DAVIS Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia
TECHNICAL
editors, in whatever field they may be working, have several chores in common. They must assume the toga, the trials, and the tribulations of the teacher. They must deal freely with instruction-instruction to the technical staff, to secretaries and stenographers, and, often subtly, to those in administrative capacities. Technical editors must see that the library contains books and articles on report writing, that dictionaries are available, and that each author is provided with a practical style manual that represents good English usage and reflects the preferences of management. They must supply typists with secretarial handbooks and in some cases technical editcrs must even provide a sheltered sanctuary where the harassed group leader can, literally, hide from his men while he concentrates on the preparation of a difficult and exacting report. In chemical engineering industries the technical editor, who is primarily a teacher, trains chemists and chemical engineers to write clearly and simply. In 'Presented as part of the Symposium on Training Chemists and Chcmicd Engineers in Technical Writing before the Division of Chemical Literature at the 128th Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Minneapolis, September, 1955.
carrying out this program he holds occasional group meetings to discuss matters of interest to all his authors, he conducts one or more private conferences with each author on each report, he demoilstrates his complete willingness to answer questions about report writing at all times, and he prepares meekly bulletins to stimulate interest in good writing. He displays pertinent material on bulletin boards, he makes his services available to stenographers and secretaries, and he watches for opportunities for adroit, disguised instruction of those in administrative capacities. TRAINING CHEMISTS AND ENGINEERS
Not oftener than once a month the astute technical editor calls a half-hour meeting of those chemists and chemical engineers who are charged with writing reports. He passes on to them general comments about technical writing made by administrative people, he discusses unfortunate trends that he has noted in recent reports, and he explains the need for any new procedures in routing. I n the event of lively, worth-while discussion, he does not hesitate to let the meeting run over the half-hour originally planned. Although group meetings provide a fairly good op-
58
portunity for instruction, the earnest technical editor does the best of his teaching during private conferences with his technical writers. After the editor has gone over a report two or three times and has analyzed the difficnlties of the author, he sees the desirability of a relaxed private conference-ither in the author's office or his own. At this point the editor must draw deeply on his reserves of tact and patience. Many otherwise well-adjusted people are extremely sensitive toward the best-intentioned criticism of material that they have written. One can comment freely on a man's personal appearance, his habits, his dog, his wife, and even, a t times, his automobile, but when an editor undertakes to point out deficiencies in a man's written work preliminary to helping him achieve improvement, he must don his kid gloves and proceed gingerly with the greatest of caution. The editor, in a relaxed atmosphere of his own creation, must establish rapport with his author and put him in a receptive mood. Already familiar with the interests of the author, the editor, in difficult, ticklish cases, may lead off with a sincere compliment on the author's howling abilities, his success with roses and tomatoes, or his glistening new Pontiac. I n easy stages the editor leads the conversation from strikes, thrips, dry rot, or trade-in values through some of the problems that face the department to the report in question. Meanwhile he may have to' listen to the author's opinion of the chances of queer animals known as "Tigers," and dull, doubtful characters called "Dodgers," a pointless monologue on mulching, the best route from Chicago to New York, the recent ailments of his children, and his latest skirmish with his mother-in-law. If, at the end of half an hour, author and editor can approach the report as friends, too much time has not been wasted. The editor says, "You know, Ed, that report's in pretty fair shape." (Of course it isn't, but the Recording Angel doesn't put down big black marks for little white lies like this one.) "I think Mr. Bigdome will like it, too, but he may question one or two points-yon know how he is!" (Ed does know how Mr. Bigdome is. He thinks he knows what he is, too, for Mr. Bigdome raised the roof with Ed about his last report-the one Ed turned in just before the editor came on the job.) The editor goes on, "Could you give me a little help with a couple of things I don't understand?" Ed has nothing to lose; in a few minutes he straightens out this not-so-very bright editor, explains just what he meant, and writes in a few words so that even the editor can understand the passage. Encouraged, the editor, pushing his luck, tackles one of the faulty couclnsions. "The curves in Figures 4 and 5 show that the addition of 0.5 per cent of X-17 increases the solubility of the resin by 20 per cent and decreases the viscosity appreciably," he reads. "I don't know much about these resins and-" "Why, that's easy," says Ed. "Look, this top curve in Figure 4 and this lower curve in Figure 5-say, I meant just the opposite, didn't I?"
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
Many chemists and chemical engineers realize that they have difficulty in expressing themselves on paper and welcome assistance and frank criticism. The editor usually experiences no trouble in working with them. They are busy and he is busy, He needs to waste little time in preliminaries, but can impart his instruction, secure immediate cooperation, and go his way. The editor keeps a file card for each report. On the card he lists the title of the report, its number, the date. and the name of the author. In some cases he adds a comment about the quality of the report and the kinds of correction needed. He may actually give the first draft a mark. Quarterly he submits a memorandum to the administrative people in which he calls attention to significant improvement in technical writing on the part of certain of his authors. He makes no mention at all of unsatisfactory work-he does not need to. The wise technical editor keeps his office door open and circulates freely around the laboratories aud pilot plants. He is never too busy to stop to answer questions or to assure someone over the telephone that "data are" is better than "data is." He encourages the idea that his editorial division or "edivision" is a clearing house for quick answers and trains his assistants and ~ecret~aries to do anything to keep the customers happy. BULLETINS AND DISPLAYS.
The editor prepares single-page weekly mimeographed bulletins in which he calls attention to changes in procedure, illustrates points of style, lists words misspelled in recent reports, suggests synonyms, and quotes current articles on technical writing. He keeps his paragraphs short, employs the light touch throughout, and indulges in games with his readers in which he offers trivial p r i z e s a peanut, a penny, a stick of gum, a cigaret-for the first to correct a difficult passage in a test paragraph. Occasionally he writes technical material himself, requests criticism, and gives his authors a welcome chanceto turn the tables on him. Realizing the importance of keeping authors conscious of good English usage, he decorates a bulletin board in the corridor just outside his office with pertinent clippings and cartoons. These range from amusing items such as, ''The bride, daughter of the Presbyterian minister, and the groom will make their home a t the Old Mans," "Mrs. Andrems spent the winter under the doctor's car," and "How to barbecue mate" from newspapers to such inanities as, "There's nothing like a dinner invitation-especially a home-cooked one" heard on the radio, "A soluble dyestuff maker" and "This study helps fill a much-needed gap in the theory" from technical literature, and "The Dane got into a fight with another dog, received a bite on the leg, which became infected and died a few days later" and "Helen decided to wear one of David's favorite evening gowns" from current novels. To combat the tendency for typists to "follow the copy though it lead out the window," the technical editor urges them to refer freely to their handbooks of
VOLUME 33, NO. 2, FEBRUARY, 1956
secretarial practice, and to discuss points of grammar with the technical men whose dictation they take. He finds that many stenographers and secretaries have real curiosity as to what goes on in the plant and lahoratory and arranges for them to take guided tours through these areas. In three months' time any competent technical editor who is willing to devote his energies to patient teaching can effect noticeable improvement in the quality of the reports turned out by a research or development organization. In six months he can demonstrate conclusively the value of his services to even the most skeptical of administrators. I n theory the successful technical editor works himself out of a job. Actually he never does-recent graduates join the staff from time to time. Sufficiently well-trained in
chemistry and engineering, they will probably always be deficient in English and report writing. At the "worst" the editor's work merely becomes easier as he assists his authors to attain proficiency and to lean less and less on his attentions to their reports. Even though the technical editor conducts lively group meetings, is tireless in his tutoring, makes himself available a t all times for advice and assistance, and imparts instruction patiently and deftly a t the level of the typists, technical personnel, and administrative people, he will not he able to please everyone. To summarize: I n chemical engineering industries, the technical editor teaches chemists, engineers, secretaries, and administrative people by means of group meetings, private conferences, bulletins, displays, and his own writings.
