High-tech companies don't always have the time and money to create perfect documentation. The demands of the development cycle and stiff competition in the marketplace mean that instructional materials must be written quickly and without complete information. The pressure is on to present customers with a professional, accurate, and usable manual that makes them happy with your product.

Triage Editing helps you improve the quality of your documents without busting your budget or missing your milestones, by customizing revisions to the time and money available. An objective second set of eyes catches glaring mistakes, and you don't have to overburden your writers with peer editing.

Choose Triage Editing to give yourself the assurance that your documents are the best you can deliver. Specify the timeline and the dollars you want to spend, and Triage Editing provides a targeted edit and the most value for your investment.

What is Triage Editing?

Choose a level of editing that fits your constraints:

Proofreading

The simplest and fastest editing pass, proofreading identifies spelling, grammar, and typographical errors just before you finalize your documentation for release.

Copyediting

A copyedit delves further into the language of a document, by simplifying word choice, smoothing out sentence structure, and standardizing terminology.

It also brings attention to material that is confusing, contradictory, or incomplete, and ensures that the content is tailored for the intended audience.

Substantive Editing

A substantive edit addresses structural questions such as:

• Is the document organized in a way that fits how a user works? Are similar tasks grouped together and presented in an appropriate sequence? Does the subject matter move from general to detailed?
• Is the rationale or purpose of each section clear?
• Do paragraphs have good topic sentences and enough technical detail to support them?
• Is all of the information important or required?

Rewriting

If your document has been prepared by an engineer or developer, rewriting will highlight information that the user needs, find the right organization for the material, and streamline the language and sentence structure.

Not sure what Triage Editing can do for you? Get a free sample edit, up to 1000 words.

Work Experience

I'm Alison Gresik, the editor behind Triage Editing. In my seven years in the software industry, I have worked on many types of technical documentation:

• Online help (WinHelp, HTML Help, JavaHelp)
• Installing and configuring guides
• End user manuals
• Developer guides
• API, SDK, and scripting reference material, including Javadocs
• Readme files (ASCII and HTML)
• Training material and tutorials
• Technical whitepapers
• Indexes

I am familiar with a range of technologies:

• Client/server architecture
• Electronic forms and workflow
• WYSIWYG design software
• HTML, XML, PDF
• Java
• Microsoft Windows and UNIX
• SAP

I am skilled in various software packages:

• Adobe FrameMaker
• Microsoft Word
• RoboHELP
• Adobe GoLive
• Microsoft FrontPage

I have an Honours BA and an MA, both in English, and I am a member of the Editors' Association of Canada (EAC).

Contact

Call or e-mail me for rates and estimates on your editing project. I can give quotes based on an hourly or per-word rate.

I can also provide references and work samples.