THE EDITORS' WEEKLY

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Adrienne Montgomerie

Software for Editors

June 3, 2014 by Adrienne Montgomerie | 6 Comments on Software for Editors

The editing of words is well into the technological age now. While paper still exists, it would be surprising to find an editorial or production workflow that doesn’t involve computers. What programs are editors using? Editors I interviewed when writing the technology section for the third edition of EAC’s Editing Canadian English said this is […]

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Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: Careless Pirates

May 27, 2014 by Wilf Popoff | 4 Comments on Wasted Words: Careless Pirates

To create a great language simply plunder other tongues of their attractive words, assimilate them and profess longstanding ownership. English proves this. Oxford has half a million distinct words. Add technical and slang and you’ve topped one million, says the Global Language Monitor. Most are swag. Unfortunately, piracy can be thoughtless. We are all accomplices, […]

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Dominique Fortier

Tenir compte de l’ordre de gouvernement pour lequel on travaille

May 20, 2014 by Dominique Fortier | 1 Comment on Tenir compte de l’ordre de gouvernement pour lequel on travaille

Mis à jour le 23 mai 2014 On peut souvent avoir l’impression qu’il y a une faute ici ou là, selon la provenance du texte que l’on a sous les yeux. Et se demander ce qu’il faudrait écrire ou s’il faut corriger ceci ou cela. Eh bien! ça dépend. Les personnes qui rédigent, révisent ou […]

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Anna Williams

Cold Call Case Files

May 13, 2014 by Anna Williams | 1 Comment on Cold Call Case Files

Cold calling. I’ve heard arguments against it — it doesn’t generate work, it’s better to network in person, only word-of-mouth referrals reliably lead to jobs. But I haven’t yet discovered a downside. I can pick and choose all the companies I’d like to work for and start calling them. A phone call only takes a […]

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David Ritchie

Invisible Writing

May 6, 2014 by David Ritchie | 1 Comment on Invisible Writing

Thirty years ago, in his film Zelig, Woody Allen portrayed a “human chameleon” — a man who took on the personalities of people around him. A ghostwriter must be something like that: a “chameleon” who can write in the voice of any client. As a ghostwriter, you must convey your client’s message to the public. […]

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Lori Burwash

Lessons Learned From Eminem, David Ogilvy and a Sex Hotline

April 29, 2014 by Lori Burwash | 18 Comments on Lessons Learned From Eminem, David Ogilvy and a Sex Hotline

It all started respectably enough. Publishing courses at Ryerson, EAC workshops and conferences, the Banff Book Editing Workshop. I’ve had rock-solid editorial training. So what have a rap artist, an ad man and a sex hotline taught me about writing and editing? Some pretty useful things, it turns out. Eminem: Write and edit like a […]

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Dominique Fortier

Dis donc, on la met où, la majuscule? Les majuscules aux titres d’écrits

April 22, 2014 by Dominique Fortier | 2 Comments on Dis donc, on la met où, la majuscule? Les majuscules aux titres d’écrits

C’est toujours embêtant, les titres d’écrits (œuvres littéraires [romans, nouvelles, chansons, poésie], manuels, etc.). Les règles sont complexes et arbitraires. Dans un souci de simplicité et d’uniformité, tant le gouvernement du Québec (Office québécois de la langue française) que celui du Canada (Bureau de la traduction) ont établi la convention qui consiste à ne mettre […]

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James Harbeck

I Only Wanted to Explain This | Linguistics, Frankly

April 15, 2014 by James Harbeck | 4 Comments on I Only Wanted to Explain This | Linguistics, Frankly

Adverbs are a problematic and much-maligned class of words. Linguists often have trouble explaining exactly why they go where they go. Some sorts of adverbs are baselessly despised (hopefully, people will eventually get over those hangups, but I’m not hopeful). Some people think adverbs should be excised from writing altogether. I’d like to cover all […]

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Susan Glickman

What Does It Take to Start Freelancing?

April 8, 2014 by Susan Glickman | 10 Comments on What Does It Take to Start Freelancing?

If you’re just starting out as a freelancer, whether you’re a writer or an editor, keep in mind that the only way to survive is to be brutally efficient — which means you will have no social life. You should, however, get a gym membership and use it, because you’ll need to keep your energy […]

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Kelley Wilson

A Game-Changing Writing Exercise

April 1, 2014 by Kelley Wilson | 2 Comments on A Game-Changing Writing Exercise

As a writer, I always struggle with verbs. How many times have I used said, replied or answered? Can I think of a better verb to avoid being repetitive? Do I even need the verb? Verbs, seriously, keep me awake at night. So when I skimmed a recent online newsletter, Chuck Palahniuk’s “Thought Verbs” practically […]

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