Sorry for being MIA, I was busy with one final project for my Technical Editing class: the comprehensive edit project.
The comprehensive edit project is the final project given to me during my Technical Editing class. The premise of the project is for us to find material to apply what we have learned throughout the course, including copyediting, structural editing, and editing tools found in Word.
What surprised me during the project was the amount of communication needed between group mates. As a team, we decided to each take a couple of sections to focus our efforts on (“divide and conquer”). What I expected was our own individual knowledge and skills, and the style guide will be sufficient for us to reconvene only once or twice to compare edits. However, I quickly realized that my vision was idealized. Even from the first couple of days, threads began to form in Teams and in Word regarding style and formatting. Despite what previous background we had as a team, this project made me realize that even a group of editors need constant communication between each other to make sure we provide the best, unified work possible for our client.
What delighted me during the project was the skills I could apply and the fact that I was still learning even though this was a “final exam”. Like any student, I was somewhat apprehensive when starting the comprehensive edit project, as this was the last chance for me to display what I have learned in this course. As I progressed through my sections, I was glad I knew what to do and applied my knowledge of the best writing techniques. Furthermore, I am also glad that this final project gave me valuable experience, as I learned tips and tricks from online sources and my group mates. This comprehensive project displays my best work and growth from the Tech Comm program.
Although I had previous experience editing, this course’s instructional material gave me the proper tools necessary to focus more on editing mechanics. One concern I had before the comprehensive project is the lack of technical knowledge for Word. It is important to not only know the theory and techniques for English, but to know and understand the medium I will be working with, as this will determine how long I will work on a project. I knew basic functions going into this project, such as finding a particular phrase, tracking changes, and creating comments. However, Dr. Campbell gave us a Word tutorial assignment that goes over basic and advanced tools found in the program. This tutorial gave me the confidence to traverse Word quickly and professionally for this and future projects. Examples of this include a proper Table of Contents and visually different colors for tracking changes (ex. Blue is adding content, red is removing content).
With the instructional material, Dr. Campbell also gave us the opportunity to use AI software for this project; however, I decided to not use this in the interest of personal growth. Earlier in the course, Dr. Campbell introduced us to an AI writing software called ProWritingAid. This program was meant to assist us during the comprehensive edit; however, using that program for a different assignment revealed that my copyediting skills were lacking. Therefore, I decided to only use AI when I need ideas for changes in tone, not for copyediting. By avoiding AI like ProWritingAid, I was able apply copyediting skills from this class, learn from my groupmates, and grow as a writer.
Having a professional project as an assignment was most meaningful for my career goal of becoming a technical editor. My goal is to be a competitive choice in the tech comm field. When I started in this course, this was not the case. My editing skills were weak and I included too much of my own style when editing. However, this project gave me the opportunity to apply my growing skills to a “contract work” for an actual client. This resulted in one of my best works individually and as a team, professional experience, and confidence in my own capabilities as a writer.
The comprehensive edit project was supposed to be a benchmark test for all students in this class to gauge how much we have grown as technical editors since the start. My diagnostic exam revealed how much I needed to grow, and throughout the course and the project, I became capable of applying proper techniques and mechanics to each document I was given. Although this is my best project currently, I am looking forward to editing future projects and meeting new teammates.