When technologies and audiences change before our eyes, editing is rarely a task performed in tranquil contemplation of eternal truths, using style guides carved in stone. Instead we try to adapt our skills to new media, for audiences we scarcely know, and our only constant is the knowledge that tomorrow we'll probably have to adapt yet again. This is whitewater editing.
When it comes to adapting print text to websites, we may be tempted to recall that an "editor" was originally a sponsor of gladiatorial games in ancient Rome. So why not just hack and slash and hope for the best?
Why not? Because you won't end up with the best--just a gory mess on the floor and thousands of downturned thumbs.
It doesn't have to be that way. When they dump a mass of brochures, reports, and articles on your desk and say, "Put this on the site, would you?", you can do a better job than you think.
The Politics of Web Editing
First, though, consider the politics of the assignment. Who's in charge of this site? Is this a personal or corporate vision that you're supposed to express? Do the site sponsors understand the principles of the medium? Do they need a quick seminar in the basics? If you're dealing with people who consider a Website a kind of billboard, you're going to have to be an educator as well as an editor.
What about the look and feel of the site? Should they follow the image created by the organization's print documents, or strike out in a new direction? For many corporate sites, Web text and print text can be very similar because most business writing follows the three principles of Web writing: orientation, information, and action. This means visitors know where they are, how to find what they came for, and how to act on what they've learned.
But who's going to use this site: scanners or readers? Scanners look for information-rich chunks of text. Readers are on the Web only because it's easier than schlepping to the library. Scanners want bits and pieces they can put together in their own way. Readers want to turn your material back into print on paper and read it that way.
That means you should probably offer a couple of versions: One to be absorbed by hit-and-run visitors, another that's easy to print out.
Pull Back for Perspective
Hit-and-run visitors want a quick overview of the whole site and its documents, and you'd better want the same thing. So before you begin adapting print text, pull back from the material you're using. What are its recurring themes? Where is it redundant? Does its purpose as a print document (a news release, brochure, catalogue entry) survive when it's on the Web? If not, does it even belong on the site? Nothing on a website should be there until it's fought for its life. If so, does it still need the same text and organization as its print original?
And what about bells and whistles? Does your content need audio or video, or animation? Countless corporate sites commit audiovisual overkill, filling their sites with dancing, singing boloney. On the Web, less is always more.
Here the editor can hack and slash with a clear conscience. When low-resolution monitors slow down reading speed, and reader attention spans are short to begin with, print text really has to fight for its life. If you can find a plainer word, a shorter sentence, a place to cut a long paragraph--do it.
Use your grammar checker's readability scale, and aim for primary-grade reading levels. That's not because your readers are stupid, but because short, simple words are understandable to bright and dim alike. The Book of Ecclesiastes has challenged great minds for centuries, but a third-grader can read it.
Remember the "You" Attitude
Finally, remember that Web users value the "you attitude"--text that shows they're more important than you are. In the text, that means using "you" far more than "I" or "we." It also means addressing the users' wants more than the sponsor's. In the nonverbal subtext, the "you attitude" appears in navigability and action: Users should be able to get around the site and to act easily on the information you've provided. As well, a freebie or two on the site is always appreciated.
Do all this, and the best you can hope for is to stay upright and breathing while bracing for the next whitewater stretch. Here it comes--paddle like hell!
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