THE EDITORS' WEEKLY

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James Harbeck

The Ongoing Demise of English

September 13, 2016 by James Harbeck | 6 Comments on The Ongoing Demise of English

English just isn’t spoken as well as it used to be. As people who have to deal every day with the abuses of common users, we will surely all agree with this sentiment: “our unfortunate ears are doomed not only to excruciate in the torments of bad grammar, but to agonize under the torture of […]

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Melva McLean

Writing Wrongs in Fiction

September 6, 2016 by Melva McLean | 1 Comment on Writing Wrongs in Fiction

Last month, Paul Cipywnyk wrote here about plausibility and continuity in novels. But what about in screenwriting? Realistic, plausible details and continuity are equally — sometimes more — important on screen, but it can be challenging to ensure them. Now, it doesn’t matter what you’re writing about or in what time period — the research […]

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Zanne Cameron

Being Intercultural: The Language of Health

August 30, 2016 by Zanne Cameron | 3 Comments on Being Intercultural: The Language of Health

Being intercultural is often defined strictly in terms of ethnicity and geography, when really each of us lives a multiplicity of cultural identities on a daily basis. Our interactions at work and with family and friends, our activities, faith, offline and online personas, all have their own overlapping and intersecting sets of beliefs, values and […]

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Rosemary Shipton

Shorten It!

August 23, 2016 by Rosemary Shipton | 13 Comments on Shorten It!

“Every word is gold,” my author said, “but I suppose you’ll have to shorten it.” Indeed I will: this book manuscript totals 180,000 words, and the trade publisher wants a 40 percent cut. That will be tough. Editors often need to reduce text. Newspapers, magazines, brochures, textbooks and reference materials have strict word limits. It […]

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Sue Archer

Oh, My Aching Eyeballs!

August 16, 2016 by Sue Archer | 18 Comments on Oh, My Aching Eyeballs!

Lately, I find myself wishing I’d picked a profession where I didn’t need to look at computer screens. Or read a lot. Or use my eyes at all, really. (Being a taste tester at a chocolate factory sounds like an attractive career change right about now.) My distance vision has always been terrible, but now […]

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Paul Cipywnyk

Know Your Subject, Watch That Continuity

August 9, 2016 by Paul Cipywnyk | 9 Comments on Know Your Subject, Watch That Continuity

Blam! Blam! Black Sombrero fired his Colt .45 at the shadow in the barn, then spun and snapped three shots at the posse approaching across the coral. Zing! A shot from behind creased his shoulder, and he wheeled back, fanning four quick shots at the figure in the gaping doorway. Snick. Damn, he was empty! […]

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Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: Surviving Overkill

August 2, 2016 by Wilf Popoff | 4 Comments on Wasted Words: Surviving Overkill

In 1956 SC Johnson (formerly Johnson Wax) developed Raid, an apparently effective insecticide that became a marketing miracle. But most of the credit for the boom belongs to Foote, Cone & Belding (aka FCB), a global advertising agency that created the legendary slogan, Raid Kills Bugs Dead. This whimsically ironic tagline burst into our cultural lexicon […]

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Susan Glickman

Time to Put the “Free” Back in “Freelance”

July 26, 2016 by Susan Glickman | 7 Comments on Time to Put the “Free” Back in “Freelance”

I make my living as a freelancer, which means I work pretty much every single day, all year long. My only breaks are brief visits to out-of-town family. Real holidays are rare — perhaps once every five years. Sound familiar? I suspect many of you are like me. We never know when the next job […]

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Dwain Richardson

English Editing in Quebec: All About Gender

July 19, 2016 by Dwain Richardson | Leave a Comment

If you’re passionate about foreign languages, you’ll know that most of them contain masculine and feminine nouns. Some languages, such as German and Russian, go the extra mile and use neutral nouns. English has its fair share of masculine and feminine nouns, too, though most of them have been eliminated to make way for more […]

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Melva McLean

Movie Review: Genius

July 12, 2016 by Melva McLean | 4 Comments on Movie Review: Genius

Genius is a movie about the relationship between writer Thomas Wolfe and editor Maxwell Perkins and is based primarily on A. Scott Berg’s biography, “Max Perkins: Editor of Genius” (Riverhead Trade). Perkins worked for Charles Scribner’s Sons for over 30 years. Like Canada’s Ellen Seligman, Perkins was an exacting editor. Like Seligman, his meticulous attention […]

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