THE EDITORS' WEEKLY

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Rosemary Shipton

Editors and Their Clients

January 13, 2015 by Rosemary Shipton | 3 Comments on Editors and Their Clients

Editors are shaped by their clients. Sure, we all share common knowledge, skills and talents, but we’re influenced by what our employers want from us. Over a period of years, that accumulated experience makes us the editors we are today. In recent posts to this site, Lori Burwash has described the challenges of writing and […]

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Victoria Neufeldt

What’s an Editor to Do?

January 6, 2015 by Victoria Neufeldt | 2 Comments on What’s an Editor to Do?

The vagaries of language can cause even the most experienced editors headaches. Editors as a group are more attuned to the whims and ways of language than the average speaker, but many strange and challenging usages regularly fly under the radar and pass into public text, despite our best efforts. When should an editor accept […]

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Administrators General EAC

Letter From the Editors

December 22, 2014 by Administrators | 6 Comments on Letter From the Editors

Dear Readers, Thank you all for your readership over the past year. We value our subscribers and would love to hear your thoughts about the blog. If you’re interested in becoming a contributor or have a topic in mind that you’d like to see addressed, please let us know! There will be no post tomorrow, […]

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Dwain Richardson

English Editing in Quebec: Local Realities — Western Quebec and Eastern Townships

December 16, 2014 by Dwain Richardson | Leave a Comment

If you live in the vicinity of Canada’s capital region and are aspiring to become a language professional, you’re in for a treat. For starters, the cities of Gatineau and Ottawa and their surrounding areas are home to most federal government departments. Localities on either side of the Ottawa River have municipal administrations and provincial […]

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Paul Cipywnyk

How Skype Helped Support a Family Editing Tradition

December 9, 2014 by Paul Cipywnyk | 3 Comments on How Skype Helped Support a Family Editing Tradition

Upon retirement from their teaching careers at the University of Saskatchewan, my late mother, Sonia Morris, and her sister, Roma Franko, embarked on a labour of love: translating Ukrainian literature into English. For many years they shared desk space in one another’s homes in Saskatoon. Roma focused on translating, and Sonia on editing. I provided […]

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Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: The Elements and Style

December 2, 2014 by Wilf Popoff | 1 Comment on Wasted Words: The Elements and Style

It’s the time of year when heeding weather reports is a good idea: setting out with meagre insulation can be foolhardy. (News flash: “Hypothermia Blamed When Editor Vanishes.”) I glean data from all sources and sally forth properly kitted, but meteorological claptrap can be irritating. A local CBC station announces that temperatures overnight will go […]

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Sue Archer

Four Guidelines for Editing Your Way Through the Corporate Jungle

November 25, 2014 by Sue Archer | 10 Comments on Four Guidelines for Editing Your Way Through the Corporate Jungle

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be an editor. Unlike many of my editing colleagues who work in publishing, I ply my trade within a corporation. Although my official title is not “editor,” editing is a large part of what I do. I’ve worked for years in information technology, where […]

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David Ritchie

Do You Need That Adverb?

November 18, 2014 by David Ritchie | 2 Comments on Do You Need That Adverb?

Readers with long memories may recall Tom Swiftie jokes from the early 1960s. Named after the hero in the Tom Swift series of juvenile adventure novels, Tom Swifties relied on a corny use of adverbs. Here are examples: “We’re travelling faster than sound!” said Tom, swiftly. “The temperature is 200 degrees!” said Tom, heatedly. “It’s […]

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James Harbeck

What’s English? | Linguistics, Frankly

November 12, 2014 by James Harbeck | 1 Comment on What’s English? | Linguistics, Frankly

Here’s a quick quiz. Tell me which of the following are English and which aren’t. For each one, say why it is or isn’t English and, if it’s not, what language it is. There’s no place to plug your car in in the parkade. A wha dat dey dem people deh nyam ih smell sweet. […]

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Rosemary Shipton

Twelve-Step Editing

November 4, 2014 by Rosemary Shipton | 23 Comments on Twelve-Step Editing

One project, one editor — that’s the norm in Canada today. Only a few large trade publishers and a small number of government departments still divide editing between structural/stylistic editors and copy editors, while the rapidly dwindling group of educational publishers distinguish between developmental editing and copy editing. Almost all the other publishers, institutions and […]

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