Author: Aaron Dalton

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Aaron Dalton

“Brag docs”: An Aide-mémoire

January 26, 2023 by Aaron Dalton | 4 Comments on “Brag docs”: An Aide-mémoire

Performance reviews and discussions around compensation are part of working in house. You can’t just unilaterally change your hourly rate. If you want to get ahead, you need to be able to have uncomfortable conversations and demonstrate your value. But if you’re anything like me, remembering what you did last week, let alone last year, […]

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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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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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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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Review: The Chicago Manual of Style for PerfectIt

September 14, 2021 by Aaron Dalton | 1 Comment on Review: The Chicago Manual of Style for PerfectIt

Disclaimer: I received a free year of access to The Chicago Manual of Style Online (CMOS Online) and PerfectIt 5 as part of testing the beta version and writing this review. Efficiency is key to maximizing your income. There are only so many hours in a day, so you simply must do more in those […]

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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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What Is Plain Language? Part 1: A Definition

June 22, 2021 by Aaron Dalton | 6 Comments on What Is Plain Language? Part 1: A Definition

This is the first in a series of articles discussing the basic principles of plain language that I’ve found successful in my teaching. These principles may not be new to my fellow editors. Perhaps some material here will be useful in your own educational efforts. My experience is with non-fiction, mostly technical, writing. I would […]

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Zen and the Art of Editing

May 11, 2021 by Aaron Dalton | 4 Comments on Zen and the Art of Editing

This post is part of a series by and for in-house editors. The focus of this series is on the personal experiences and various roles of in-house editors. If you’re interested in writing a post for this series, please email the Member Services Committee. I’m a punctilious person. I care about the details. I care […]

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Editing Face to Face

February 23, 2021 by Aaron Dalton | 3 Comments on Editing Face to Face

Writing in a large organization is usually done “by committee.” That’s a challenging process at the best of times. After doing a first pass, which almost invariably contains more edits than the writers expected, I’m often asked to sit down (these days, virtually) and work though my comments with them. The first few times were […]

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Wildcards and Regular Expressions

November 10, 2020 by Aaron Dalton | Leave a Comment

Recently, I’ve seen some problems involving global text edits that were easily solved with Microsoft Word’s Advanced Find and Replace feature. Spending some time learning the ins and outs of this feature will more than pay off when you’re able to do something in minutes that would take you hours to do manually. Find and […]

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Learning from History

October 6, 2020 by Aaron Dalton | 4 Comments on Learning from History

This post is part of a 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. If you’re interested in writing a post for this series, please email the Member Services Committee. One of the reasons our species has flourished is that […]

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Laws of UX

August 11, 2020 by Aaron Dalton | 4 Comments on Laws of UX

UX stands for “user experience.” It’s the discipline that looks at how users navigate (usually digital) interfaces and tries to maximize fluency. In-house editors will often find themselves wearing many hats, especially in smaller organizations. I know I’ve often been asked to edit not just web copy but also text in various IT systems (for […]

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Empirical Editors: Fluency

June 9, 2020 by Aaron Dalton | 4 Comments on Empirical Editors: Fluency

This article is part of a series that looks at lessons one can draw from some of the research collected in Aaron Dalton’s “Empirical Research for Editors” list.  “Fluency” refers to how easy or difficult it is to do or process something. I interpret the science in this area through the lens of plain language, […]

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Empirical Editors: Curse of Knowledge

March 17, 2020 by Aaron Dalton | 1 Comment on Empirical Editors: Curse of Knowledge

This article is part of a series that draws lessons from some of the research collected in Aaron Dalton’s “Empirical Research for Editors” list. Do you have the curse of knowledge? The “curse of knowledge” is a type of cognitive bias where someone unknowingly assumes, while communicating, that their audience has the same background knowledge […]

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Notes on Notes

January 14, 2020 by Aaron Dalton | 16 Comments on Notes on Notes

I had occasion recently to teach someone how to write effective editorial comments. It was an interesting exercise as it forced me to articulate principles I had absorbed over many years, some learned from painful experience. Here’s what came to mind: Know your place. My job is to help the author produce the best quality […]

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Checklists: Sharing Knowledge

November 5, 2019 by Aaron Dalton | 5 Comments on Checklists: Sharing Knowledge

I’ve spent most of my career in-house. Currently I work with dozens of individual authors from all across the organization on a diverse array of document types. Though our editorial team works as a pool, a certain degree of specialization is unavoidable. We need to be able to record and share institutional knowledge amongst ourselves […]

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The Ethical Imperative for Plain Language

September 10, 2019 by Aaron Dalton | 9 Comments on The Ethical Imperative for Plain Language

I used to speak of plain language in terms of it being “the right thing to do” and also the most effective thing to do from a utilitarian perspective (i.e., it gets results). But then I came across Russell Willerton’s book Plain Language and Ethical Action: A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st […]

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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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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 […]

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