Client: Responsive Environments and Artifacts Lab (REAL) at Harvard Graduate School of Design
Responsive Environments: An Interdisciplinary Manifesto on Design, Technology and the Human Experience
A book exploring the intersection of architecture, technology, and the human experience
My Role
The authors approached me with a manuscript they wanted copyedited before submission to their publisher. My editing helped them communicate highly abstract concepts concretely.
My services included mechanical editing, correlating parts, language editing, and content editing (querying inconsistencies in content or faulty logic, not fact checking).
The Challenge
The draft manuscript was highly conceptual and abstract, loaded with discipline-specific language that could be difficult to follow. And, because three people—working separately—wrote the manuscript, it was inconsistent in style. I needed to make the content easier to follow and to create a consistent tone of voice without losing the specificity and authority of the authors’ original draft.
The Solution
I simplified language where appropriate while respecting discipline-specific vocabulary. I suggested opportunities to add concrete examples of abstract concepts. Where appropriate, I broke complicated sentences into simpler sentences, and long paragraphs into shorter, more digestible paragraphs. To ensure my edits were in line with expectations, I edited a sample chapter and requested feedback before editing the full manuscript. The published book is a thought-provoking investigation into how technology can augment the way physical spaces are designed and used.