Writing together
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| cloud document | 云端文档 | yún duān wén dàng |
| version history | 版本历史 | bǎn běn lì shǐ |
| comments | 批注 | pī zhù |
| suggestions | 建议模式 | jiàn yì mó shì |
| style | 文体 | wén tǐ |
One document, not seven versions
- report_final_v3_REALLY_final.docx is not a joke. It is what happens without a shared document.
- A cloud document 云端文档 holds one live copy that everyone edits, and the version problem disappears.
- GAC005 marks the collaboration, not only the text, so how you work together is visible.
Version history protects you
- Version history 版本历史 records who changed what and when.
- It is your evidence: a finished document reads as one voice, and the history is what shows your contribution.
- ⚠ Never paste your part in at the end from a private file. It looks identical to doing nothing until the deadline.
Writing your part privately and pasting it in at the end is a safe way to work.
The version history is your evidence of contribution, and a single late paste looks like doing nothing until the deadline.
Comment, do not overwrite
- Comments 批注 propose a change without making it. Suggestions 建议模式 make one the owner can accept or reject.
- Overwriting a teammate's paragraph is the fastest way to make a group stop contributing.
- Disagree with the sentence, in a comment, and let them fix their own writing.
You think a teammate's paragraph is unclear. What do you do?
A comment lets them fix their own writing. Overwriting is the fastest way to make a group stop contributing.
Write a comment on a teammate's unclear sentence that is useful rather than discouraging.
Example: "Which system does "it" refer to here — the survey or the database? One word would fix it."
Splitting a document, two ways.
By sentence: everyone writes into the same paragraphs. The result contradicts itself twice and reads like four people, because it is.
By section: each person owns whole sections, agreed before anyone writes. One person does a final read for style 文体 and consistency.
The second is not more effort. It is the same effort, arranged so that it adds up.
What is the right way to divide a group document?
Sections can be owned; sentences cannot. Then one person reads it through for consistency.
Agree the structure before anyone writes a sentence. Ten minutes on an outline saves the evening spent merging four incompatible drafts — and the outline is also what lets you split the work fairly.
Decide person, tense and spelling at the start. British or American, past or present, "we" or the passive — it does not matter which, but a document that switches halfway looks exactly like what it is, and consistency is a marked criterion.
What should a group agree before writing? Choose all that apply.
All three are cheap to agree early and expensive to fix late. Consistency is a marked criterion.