Tag: writing

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Holly Vestad

Editing in the Age of AI

March 20, 2025 by Holly Vestad | 2 Comments on Editing in the Age of AI

It’s March 2025, and in offering to write a piece about AI, I run the risk of becoming outdated as I type. From what I can tell, the response to generative AI’s influence on writing and editing ranges from gratitude for its time-saving measures to annoyance at its errors to outright panic at its potential […]

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James Harbeck

Facts Follow Feelings

November 7, 2024 by James Harbeck | 1 Comment on Facts Follow Feelings

I was 14 years old when I found out what it feels like to hit a wall in a car that’s moving at 8 kilometers per hour. That might not sound very fast — it didn’t to me — but let me tell you, it felt plenty hard. If I hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt […]

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James Harbeck

“Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain”

August 30, 2022 by James Harbeck | 2 Comments on “Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain”

What’s missing from this sample text? A set of subjects, n = 180, were surveyed using a predetermined questionnaire. Statistical analysis of the responses revealed a statistically significant pattern of association of low-frequency polysyllabic lexemes with greater intellectual value. It’s not short on words, nor on syllables per word, nor on grammatical complexity. It’s an […]

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Laura Bontje

On Editing an Editor: Margaret Kingsbury and Laura Bontje in Conversation

June 14, 2022 by Laura Bontje | 2 Comments on On Editing an Editor: Margaret Kingsbury and Laura Bontje in Conversation

Editing a first-time author calls for a blend of sharp-eyed clarity, cheerleading and hand-holding. What if the author is also an editor? As part of a series of blog posts featuring conversations between author-editors and their editors, The Editors’ Weekly asked two editors to reflect on their experience of working together as critique partners. Laura […]

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Frances Peck

On Editing an Editor: Leslie Vermeer and Frances Peck in Conversation

March 8, 2022 by Frances Peck | 6 Comments on On Editing an Editor: Leslie Vermeer and Frances Peck in Conversation

Editing a first-time novelist calls for a blend of sharp-eyed clarity, cheerleading and hand-holding. What if the novelist is also an editor? As part of a series of blog posts featuring conversations between author-editors and their editors, The Editors’ Weekly asked two editors to reflect on their experience of working together. Frances Peck is a […]

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Aaron Dalton

What is Plain Language? Part 5: The Nitty-gritty

February 15, 2022 by Aaron Dalton | 3 Comments on What is Plain Language? Part 5: The Nitty-gritty

This is the fifth and last in a series of articles discussing the basic principles of plain language by Aaron Dalton. I offer two half-day workshops: the first is all about the why and then we look at some document-level issues like tone. This is the workshop that I am most passionate about and try to get […]

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Aaron Dalton

What is Plain Language? Part 4: Craftsmanship

November 16, 2021 by Aaron Dalton | 1 Comment on What is Plain Language? Part 4: Craftsmanship

This is the fourth in a series of articles discussing the basic principles of plain language by Aaron Dalton. Most of the writing that happens in an office is stream-of-consciousness. We fire off dozens of quick emails and texts a day with little thought. But the writing we do for external readers requires more care. Effective writing […]

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Lucy Payette

What’s New in the Canadian Press Stylebook

November 2, 2021 by Lucy Payette | 1 Comment on What’s New in the Canadian Press Stylebook

Since its inception in 1940, The Canadian Press Stylebook has changed “cautiously,” as stated on its website, with a motto of “evolution, not revolution.” Nonetheless, if you’ve followed Canadian Press style, you know it isn’t enough to commit to memory the style standards and leave it at that. Language and usage changes — and style […]

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Merel Elsinga

Update on the International Plain Language Standard: An Interview with Gael Spivak

October 26, 2021 by Merel Elsinga | Leave a Comment

Gael Spivak, a previous president of Editors Canada, works in-house for the federal government as a writer and editor. Part of her job is her involvement in creating an international plain language standard for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). At the Editors Canada conference on June 13, 2021, Gael gave us an update on […]

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Aaron Dalton

What is Plain Language? Part 3: When You Assume …

October 12, 2021 by Aaron Dalton | 5 Comments on What is Plain Language? Part 3: When You Assume …

This is the third in a series of articles discussing the basic principles of plain language by Aaron Dalton. You’re preparing a speech for a community association. You disagree with a particular policy, but you moderate your language because you “know” that most people disagree with you. What nobody realizes, though, is that actually, most people disagree […]

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Aaron Dalton

What is Plain Language? Part 2: Reading is a Skill

August 31, 2021 by Aaron Dalton | 3 Comments on What is Plain Language? Part 2: Reading is a Skill

This is the second in a series of articles discussing the basic principles of plain language by Aaron Dalton. Defining literacy Literacy is not just about being able to read and write; it’s also about being able to understand and use what you read. In an earlier blog post, I mentioned a standardized measure called […]

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Vaani Sai Nagallapati

My Neuroscience Thesis Helped Me Find My Dream Career… in Editing

June 30, 2020 by Vaani Nagallapati | 3 Comments on My Neuroscience Thesis Helped Me Find My Dream Career… in Editing

I remember, at six years old, an aunty visited our house. In an attempt to make conversation with me, she turned mid-chai, and asked, “So, dear, do you know what you want to be when you grow up?” At my young age, there were no real consequences to this question. I could have told her […]

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Gael Spivak

Gael Spivak: An Editor’s Top 3

May 5, 2020 by Gael Spivak | Leave a Comment

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

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Barbara McClintock

The Language of Political Commentary: From Nadir to Zenith

April 28, 2020 by Barbara McClintock | 2 Comments on The Language of Political Commentary: From Nadir to Zenith

Jean-Paul Sartre, author of Huis Clos, wrote L’enfer, c’est les autres (Hell is other people). Maybe that’s true in a pandemic. However, in this period of social distancing and self-isolation, we still have the luxury of reading. In particular, I’m rereading the excellent book titled The Mother Tongue – English and How It Got That […]

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James Harbeck

But Is It Art?

February 11, 2020 by James Harbeck | 3 Comments on But Is It Art?

Is writing art? And if it is, what is editing? If we say writing is “artful,” or “artistic” or “an art,” we mean that we appreciate it aesthetically and admire it for the skill it evinces. But if we say not “writing is an art” but “writing is art” — or “this text is a […]

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Tracey Anderson

Freeing Myself from the Freelancer Title

November 19, 2019 by Tracey Anderson | 15 Comments on Freeing Myself from the Freelancer Title

“Are you a freelancer?” My answer to that question has changed over the course of my career. When I first started editing, I edited learning modules for apprenticeship trades in house at a polytechnic institution. I also wrote freelance projects for newspapers and magazines during evenings and weekends. I loved writing, but it was not […]

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Aaron Dalton

Empirical Editors: Acronyms

July 16, 2019 by Aaron Dalton | 13 Comments on Empirical Editors: Acronyms

Background I’m an in-house editor for the Alberta Energy Regulator. Authors are required to work with our group as they move towards publishing their documents. It’s essential that we cultivate and nurture relationships of respect and trust. One element of that is always being able to rationalize and justify our recommendations. There’s no room for […]

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Christine Beevis Trickett

Even Nature Needs an Editor

June 18, 2019 by Christine Beevis Trickett | 2 Comments on Even Nature Needs an Editor

This post is part of a new series of case studies by and for in-house editors. The focus of this series is on the personal experiences and various roles of in-house editors. A post will appear on the Editors’ Weekly every other month. If you’re interested in writing a post for this series, please email Sara Promislow.  I am a […]

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Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: The Risks of Reading

May 21, 2019 by Wilf Popoff | 3 Comments on Wasted Words: The Risks of Reading

Because I was a confirmed reading addict when television appeared, it failed to dislodge my teenage obsession. Like Groucho Marx I found the idiot box “very educating”:­ “Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” It’s been a relentless dependency. I still find it difficult to […]

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Christina Vasilevski

Usability Testing From an Editor’s Perspective

April 23, 2019 by Christina Vasilevski | Leave a Comment

This post is part of a new series of case studies by and for in-house editors. The focus of this series is on the personal experiences and various roles of in-house editors. A post will appear on the Editors’ Weekly every other month. If you’re interested in writing a post for this series, please email the Member Services Committee.  […]

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Frances Peck

Freedom to Read, Willingness to Edit

February 26, 2019 by Frances Peck | 13 Comments on Freedom to Read, Willingness to Edit

Good stories, for me, have never been treacly. My father, an RCMP officer, put people in jail; my mother, a halfway house director, put them back into society. My childhood was one of sensational publications and limited adult supervision. By age 11 I’d read Jaws, Helter Skelter and The Eden Express, a memoir of schizophrenia. […]

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Marianne Grier

Google as the Editor

January 22, 2019 by Marianne Grier | 6 Comments on Google as the Editor

If you’re a Gmail user, you may have adopted its new Smart Compose feature. This perplexing time-saver has made me question the future of communications since it appeared in my inbox. Smart Compose uses machine learning to help users write faster, clearer emails by anticipating what they’re trying to say and suggesting text they can […]

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Virginia Durksen

Interview With Dr. Suzanne M. Steele

November 27, 2018 by Virginia Durksen | 3 Comments on Interview With Dr. Suzanne M. Steele

Part 3: Suzanne Steele, Librettist and Multimedia Artist In 2012, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and One Yellow Rabbit theatre company commissioned Suzanne Steele to write the libretto for Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation. Suzanne’s work with composer Jeffrey Ryan is one example of the collaboration she has pursued in her career, between artists and across […]

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Rosemary Shipton

Working With Authors

November 6, 2018 by Rosemary Shipton | 8 Comments on Working With Authors

Editors make decisions all the time as they edit, but the most important judgment call of all is how to work best with each individual author. No one-size-fits-all solution will do. Most commonly, editors make their corrections with track changes, write questions and comments for the author in the margins, and describe their overall approach […]

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