Shorten Editorial Cycles With Terminology Management and Writer Support
In the realm of content creation, time is of the essence. Every editorial cycle spent refining terminology and style is a cycle that could be better used generating more content or improving existing materials. There are a couple of things that you can do to streamline your review process and avoid bottlenecks, such as using agreed-upon terms, having a company language style guide, and taking advantage of automation.
Will a Style Guide Shorten the Documentation Review Process?
Agreed-upon terms and a style guide are great tools for any company, simplifying the onboarding process and giving writers a framework to stick to. Additionally, using consistent terminology helps writers avoid confusion for reviewers. This reduces the need for multiple rounds of revisions, saving time that would otherwise be spent on fixing inconsistencies and other avoidable pitfalls. The only problem is that it’s impossible for most people to internalize all of the company terms and style guide rules.
Editorial Cycle
/ˌed.əˈtɔːr.i.əl/ /ˈsaɪ.kəl/
The editorial cycle is the process a piece of content goes through, from conception and creation to editing, review, and publication.
To solve this, more and more companies are integrating their terminology and style guides directly into their editing tools. The writers get a digital assistant that is always available, ensuring consistency and accuracy, which in turn shortens the editorial cycle. This is a great example of how automation in the right places creates value on both individual and company level. Fodina’s partner Acrolinx digitizes your language style guide with support for aspects like terminology, consistency, and correctness.
Can the Editorial Cycle be Automated?
With the right tools, a good portion of the editorial cycle can be automated. The regular spell-checking you encounter every day is an example of automation, and more is on the rise. But you can’t take the human out of the equation just yet. Despite the rapid progress of AI tools for just about anything these days, humans are still superior when it comes to the subtle stuff.
So, let the human editors take care of the complex issues, rather than the ones that are already in the style guide. Let the machines do what they can do better and quicker so that humans can be humans – creative, clever, and empathic.