Like many freelance editors, I’m an independent introvert. I prefer a private working environment, forming my own definitions of my editing services and working alone to my own schedule (with regular reminders of break times by my feline editorial assistants). So you’d think I’d turn up my nose at the …
I started my professional editing career among a team of writers and editors for the Alberta provincial government. At the time, government was the largest employer of editing professionals. The role was fairly limited: we did everything in Canadian Press style, we never credited a source, and I spent most …
Dear readers, These past two-plus years, I’ve kept good company with authors, publishing leaders, instructors and professors, new and established freelancers, linguistics experts, translators, in-house and niche editors and many more, and most of it during a pandemic. At a time when many were feeling disconnected, I was having weekly …
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. — Lao Tzu The mentor role is ancient and storied. Mentor, in Homer’s Odyssey, is the friend of Odysseus who tutors Telemachus, Odysseus’s son. Athena, disguised as Mentor, steers young Telemachus’s search for his father. Those ancient Greeks did spin good …
I didn’t volunteer with my editing association to get things out of it for myself. But over the years, I noticed that I was getting a lot out of it beyond feeling good about giving back to my community. This post summarizes what I learned so that you can use …
In a nod to mentoring month, a movement formally recognized in the U.S. and gaining traction in Canada, let’s reflect on mentoring in the editing industry. Much has been written about mentoring in The Editors’ Weekly over the years, including the most recent post by Jennifer D. Foster on the …
As we enter 2022, it’s time to ask how editors have fared during the pandemic and what lies ahead. When the world as we knew it suddenly shut down in March 2020, we feared for our health and our livelihoods, uncertain what might transpire. How have we done? For most …
Many of my conversations of late have started with “I would have thought by now we would be … ” or “I’m not sure what the next few months will bring ….” This past year has been called many things: the Great Resignation, the Great Reshuffle, the second year of …
Written with files from Zofia Laubitz, Editors Canada awards coordinator. Today is Giving Tuesday. Described as the “opening day of the giving season,” it is a time when charities, companies and individuals rally for their favourite causes. It’s a perfect time to consider supporting the editing community. Ways to support …
Being a freelance editor and writer is — more often than not — a solo experience, and participating in mentorships can help ease the sense of isolation many of us experience. That’s one of the reasons I became a mentor a decade ago. I’ve been mentoring novice and/or transitioning editors …