Coaching HelpGram Writers



The goals of coaching include the following:

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

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:

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

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