THE EDITORS' WEEKLY

Filed under:

James Harbeck

Novel Medical Treatments

June 4, 2019 by James Harbeck | 4 Comments on Novel Medical Treatments

People with serious health problems are often subject to novel treatments. But that shouldn’t mean being treated like they’re in a novel. Health problems are human problems, and they can be important stories about real things affecting real people. But often, in telling them, we create another problem, because we make the story conform to […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Marion Soubliere

Social Procurement to Woo Female-Led Firms, Among Others

May 28, 2019 by Marion Soublière | 2 Comments on Social Procurement to Woo Female-Led Firms, Among Others

There’s a short paragraph in Budget 2018 that didn’t garner much buzz last year. But it holds hope for women-owned companies that want a bigger piece of the roughly $20 billion annual federal market. As part of boosting the overall number of female-run firms in this country, the Government of Canada pledged to make sure […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

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 […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Brendan O’Brien

Valparaiso

May 14, 2019 by Brendan O'Brien | 12 Comments on Valparaiso

When I was at school, I learned a poem in Irish called ‘Tháinig Long ó Valparaiso’ by Pádraig de Brún (it’s actually a translation of one called ‘The Ship’ by Oliver St John Gogarty, but I didn’t know that then). A ship from Valparaiso came And in the Bay her sails were furled; She brought […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Aaron Dalton

Language Resources for Non-Native English Speakers

May 7, 2019 by Aaron Dalton | 3 Comments on Language Resources for Non-Native English Speakers

I teach plain language workshops, and I was recently approached by a non-native English speaker. His language skills were excellent. He said he learned English mostly through standardized exams, and he felt there was a gap between the mode of English he was taught and the plain language approach I was preaching. His question was […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Marianne Grier

Editing: An Essentialist Craft?

April 30, 2019 by Marianne Grier | 2 Comments on Editing: An Essentialist Craft?

The new “essentialism” is having a moment. While many of us have been trying to cram in more — to fill every unfilled moment so that we’re more productive — some are starting to scale things back. To amble through life more slowly, focus on what’s important, take time to breathe. The new year brought […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

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.  […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Anita Jenkins

Getting Paid a Living Wage: The Editor’s Constant Challenge

April 16, 2019 by Anita Jenkins | 3 Comments on Getting Paid a Living Wage: The Editor’s Constant Challenge

I have been retired, or semi-retired, for almost a decade now. My career as a freelance writer and editor has gradually given way to new and different pursuits. But recently, a couple of projects for pay showed up in my inbox, and I succumbed. One was related to local history, a lifelong passion of mine. […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

James Harbeck

Digital Enhancement for Numbers (Go Figures!)

April 9, 2019 by James Harbeck | 4 Comments on Digital Enhancement for Numbers (Go Figures!)

At the ACES conference in Providence, Rhode Island, in late March, the Associated Press announced changes to their recommendations for handling numbers and debated some others. About sixty percent of those present gasped when one of the recommendations was made — in fact, it might have been 70 percent. No, I’m going with 80% of […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Katharine O'Moore-Klopf

Editorial Self-Care: Managing Life Changes

April 2, 2019 by Katharine O'Moore-Klopf | 10 Comments on Editorial Self-Care: Managing Life Changes

As editors, we tend to comfort ourselves by thinking that we have everything under control, because what is editing? It’s controlling the words. But control is an illusion. Style guides change. Our lives change. Life changes greatly affect the quality of our editing and our lives. What life changes might you expect? Your financial situation […]

Read more »

Tagged