Coaching HelpGram Writers

The goals of coaching include the following:

To make writers better writers by making them aware of issues or errors in their writing.
To orient e-tern writers to HelpGram writing.
To improve the quality of HelpGrams.

To achieve these goals, you'll analyze HelpGrams for the following:

Organization: The expert statement and the data points should be organized according to the procedures in the writing guide. Refer to the following pages for guidance: The Expert Statement: Purpose & Functions, How to Implement an Effective Expert Statement Structure, The Data Points: Purposes & Characteristics, Structuring & Formatting Data Points.
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Purpose: The HelpGram's content should reflect its purpose.
Style: All HelpGrams should be concise and conversational. Also, HelpGrams should conform to all criteria in the writing guide. Refer to the reference guide for guidance.
Tone: A HelpGram's tone should be uplifting and motivational. Refer to the following page for guidance: Engaging the Reader: Using Positive Language to Implement an Effective HelpGram Tone.
Information quality: HelpGrams should be informative. Refer to the following page for specific guidelines: Writing Informative & Useful HelpGrams: A Reader-Centered Approach.
Citations: References to certain facts and interpretations should be cited according to the guidelines in the following page: Avoiding Plagiarism.
Links: Recommended links and books should supply in-depth information that's appropriate for a general audience, and each link should provide slightly different information.

In addition, you should also look for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors, but we prefer for you to focus on the broader issues, such as organization and style, that affect the overall presentation of the HelpGram.

During the two-week orientation, each writer in your team will submit three HelpGrams to you. Thereafter, you'll be responsible for writing 30 HelpGrams and for helping your team's writers with their writing concerns. So if a writer desires your feedback and wishes to submit a HelpGram or part of a HelpGram, you'll supply the writer with feedback by following the procedures in this guide. You must be able to send and to receive e-mail attachments, so you can receive requests from writers for feedback and so you can send feedback to writers.

Sometimes a writer may want your general feedback, in which case you'll perform a comprehensive analysis of the HelpGram. In other cases, writers may just want advice on specific problems, such as writing a good lead, finding research, making their writing more concise and conversational etc. In these cases, you'll address only the writer's concerns. However, if you notice any errors or issues in the HelpGram that the writer hasn't asked you to address, tactfully bring these issues to the writer's attention. But if the writer states that he or she hasn't edited or finished the draft and only desires feedback on a particular issue, then only address the specific issue that the writer seeks help with.

Coaches must "CC" ALL correspondence between writers and coaches (including attachments, general questions etc.) to their team's editor and assistant editor as well as the E-ternship Director. This is for the following reasons:

The writing coach position is new. Therefore, supplying the E-ternship Director with your correspondence with writers will help the director expand on and improve the coaching guide for future semesters.
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Sending correspondence to editors and to assistant editors keeps them in the loop and reinforces lines of authority.
Sending correspondence to editors and assistant editors as well as the E-ternship Director will ensure that writers submit their first five HelpGrams to coaches.

Thoroughly read the next page to learn how to supply writers with feedback.