What She Does & How She Does It
There is no one way to approach a project, but it’s imperative to have the big picture and the deadlines up front as well as your goals, your concerns, and anything else that’s important to you. It’s also important to know the state of your current communication efforts and who is involved in a project or product.
I spend time planning a project and revisiting that plan often, keeping you informed of progess, questions, and any additional information or resources I need.
I routinely interview, research, and compile information from engineers, scientists, project managers, marketing representatives, service personnel, and other subject matter experts as well as published sources, including your previous and current documentation.
Besides writing and editing, I also
- Write and edit for ESL and translation
- Create indexes
- Design or improve your document templates
- Perform usability assessments of software interfaces and websites
- Perform software testing (verification and validation)
- Format and lay out text and graphics
- Track changes, provide feedback, and maintain version control
- Implement established industry, publisher, corporate, and departmental styles and standards. Style guides most often used include Chicago, CSE, APA, AMA, AP, MLA, and Microsoft [more…]. (I can also help you create your own style guide if you need one.)
Tools I have used include
- Microsoft Word and entire Office suite
- Adobe Acrobat
- FrameMaker (including structured) and InDesign
- various Help-authoring tools
- various Web-authoring tools
- Photoshop, Illustrator, and other common graphics packages
- screen capture software
- various electronic markup languages