English 106, Editing for Writers
Time: MW, 9:00-10:15
Location: Clark Hall 306
Course Description
Welcome to English 106! This course is required for English majors with a concentration in Professional and Technical Writing and students working toward a minor in Professional and Technical Writing. However, the skills acquired in this class will benefit all students who are seeking to improve their composition.
Whether your goal is to become a freelance writer, copywriter, technical editor, managing editor, or something else entirely, having an arsenal of technical expertise to back your writing ability will put you into a position for success. Writers who excel in their fields understand the mechanics of their craft as well as the aesthetic effects their writing will have on an audience. Gone are the days where the genius author transfers her raw brilliance to paper with the lowly editor sweeping up commas and semicolons behind her. As writers in the digital age, we are not only expected to understand the rules that hold written language together, but we are also expected to be able to articulate why particular constructions are more correct than others.
This class is a boot camp for writers and editors in which we will strip written language down to its fundamentals: syntax, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. We will work on topics such as copyediting, proofreading, designing documents, editing and placing graphics, developmental editing, organizational editing, and working effectively with writers. As the semester progresses, we will move from working with phrases and sentences to working with paragraphs and entire documents. Our goal is to understand how to create clear, useful texts. With that goal in mind, we will look not only at grammatical errors but also at stylistic choices that will improve clarity and methods for reorganizing information to better suit readers’ needs.
Prerequisites: English 1A and English 1B (or their equivalents) and upper-division standing. English 103 is recommended as a prerequisite or co-requisite.
Course Documents
Documents
- English 106 Syllabus
- Final Project Assignment
- Final Project Individual Worksheet
- Final Project Army Field Manual
Online Resources
Refer to the following links to supplement your study of professional editing.
Links
- Talking Writing, A Magazine for Writers
- Society for Technical Communication, Silicon Valley
- Society for Technical Communication
- Society for Technical Communication, Silicon Valley (Twitter Page)
- Editorial Freelancers Association
- Society for Editors and Proofreaders (UK)
- Occupational Outlook for Editors, Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Occupational Outlook for Technical Writers, Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Proofreading Self-Test