The Editors' Weekly
Official blog of Canada's national editorial association
The Editors' Weekly
Navigation
  • About the Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Articles en français
  • editors.ca
  • reviseurs.ca
You are here: Home › Gael Spivak › Gael Spivak: An Editor’s Top 3
← The Language of Political Commentary: From Nadir to Zenith
Career Builder: An Action Plan for New Editors →

Gael Spivak: An Editor’s Top 3

May 5, 2020 | Filed under: Gael Spivak and tagged with: authors, clients, editing, editing definitions, Editor’s Top 3, freelance, Gael Spivak, plain language, proofreading, writing

In this series, experienced editors reflect on their Top 3 tools, rules and suggestions for clients and colleagues.

editor's top tools
syuzannam © 123RF.com

Gael Spivak works in communications for the Government of Canada, where she specializes in plain language writing and editing. An editor for 13 years, Gael has worked on topics that include food safety and food labelling, biotechnology, influenza, zoonoses and road salts.

Gael has been a member of Editors Canada for 12 years, and a volunteer for most of that time at the branch and national level. She is currently the past president of Editors Canada and also one of the admins for the Editors’ Association of Earth Facebook groups.

Say hello on Twitter or connect via LinkedIn.

Top 3 professional tools you can’t work without

  1. My style guide. It’s particular to my workplace (and it certainly has some peculiarities).
  2. Editors Canada editing definitions. I use these all the time because my colleagues ask for “proofreading” when they mean all sorts of other things. The definitions help us agree on scope and timing.
  3. Canadian Oxford Dictionary and Editing Canadian English. Because Canadian!

Top 3 marketing channels you enjoy using

  1. Facebook
  2. Twitter
  3. LinkedIn

Top 3 life-work balance rules

  1. I (mostly) do not think about work when I am not at my workplace. That includes not replying to emails unless they are super urgent (as in a food safety emergency or a high-level official needing something before the end of the day).
  2. I stop all volunteer work by 9 p.m. each weeknight, unless it’s an emergency.
  3. I chat with friends and colleagues through the day, in person or online. I need to share a laugh (it diffuses the stress in my high-pressure job) and get and give some virtual hugs.

Top 3 suggestions for authors/clients you work with

  1. Trust my skill level.
  2. Work with me (it will be fun, I promise!). We’re a team and we’re both serving the reader.
  3. Listen to what I have to say about language change. It’s been a long time since either of us has been in grade school, but which one of us has kept up to date on what’s new in English spelling, punctuation, grammar and usage?

Top 3 suggestions for new editors/freelancers

  1. Volunteer (to learn new skills and meet people).
  2. Read as much as you can (editing blogs and editing books).
  3. Ask questions of people you trust.

One book you wish you wrote/edited

The Subversive Copy Editor. Because it’s brilliant. And it keeps editors from becoming peevers, sticklers and other unpleasant scratchy, prickly types of editors.

One recent industry trend that inspires you

I am seeing so much support for the singular they (both uses). This makes me so happy. I keep a list of articles on the topic and share them whenever I can.

___

Previous post from Gael Spivak: Networking, Introverts and Squirrels

The Editors’ Weekly is the official blog of Editors Canada. Contact us.

Did you like this article? Share it with your friends!

Tweet

Written by Gael Spivak

Gael Spivak works in communications for the federal government, where she specializes in plain language writing and editing. Her volunteer work for Editors Canada includes being on the national executive council for 10 years (including being president), co-chairing three conferences and being on her branch executive. She now chairs the localization and implementation committee of the International Plain Language Federation [for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) plain language standard]. She likes to collect things, including squirrels, tiny books, and articles on the singular they.

Follow me on Twitter
← The Language of Political Commentary: From Nadir to Zenith
Career Builder: An Action Plan for New Editors →

What we’re talking about

Aaron Dalton author-editor relationship authors book editors book publishing communication copy editing editing editing tools editor editor's role editor advice editorial skills editors editors at work Editors Canada conference français freelance editing freelance editors freelancing French grammar interview James Harbeck language letter from the editor linguistics Linguistics Frankly Marianne Grier marketing networking plain language professional development proofreading publishing Rosemary Shipton révision style translation usage Wasted Words Wilf Popoff word choice writers writing

Email subscriptions

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,055 other subscribers

Most recent posts

  • Editing Indigenous Writing: A Nuanced Partnership
  • Encouraging Coworkers to See the Benefits of Editing
  • Meeting “In Real Life”: Conference 2023
  • The Editors’ Weekly en français
  • Editing for Authors on a Budget

Archives by month

By author

Follow Us Online

Facebook  Twitter  Flickr  RSS Feed

www.editors.ca

The Editors' Weekly is the blog of Editors Canada.

Report an error or a typo

Email us at blog [at] editors.ca

© 2023 The Editors' Weekly

Powered by One Designs