Author: Gael Spivak

Gael Spivak leads a writing and editing team at a Government of Canada agency. She is a plain language expert and is one of Canada’s representatives on the working group that’s developing the ISO plain language standard. An editor for 15 years, Gael has worked on topics such as food safety and food labelling, biotechnology, influenza, zoonoses and road salts. She likes to collect things, including squirrels, tiny books and articles on the singular they.

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Leading a Team in a Corporate Workplace

May 11, 2023 by Gael Spivak | 1 Comment on Leading a Team in a Corporate Workplace

I’ve been leading a small team of writers and editors since 2014. Here are some tips I’ve figured out over that time. Play to people’s strengths Let people do what they enjoy and are good at (as much as possible). In my workplace, writers and editors are usually assigned subject areas. That makes sense, in […]

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Using Volunteer Work to Make Yourself More Marketable

March 22, 2022 by Gael Spivak | 2 Comments on Using Volunteer Work to Make Yourself More Marketable

I didn’t volunteer with my editing association to get things out of it for myself. But over the years, I noticed that I was getting a lot out of it beyond feeling good about giving back to my community. This post summarizes what I learned so that you can use it to shape your own […]

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Running Out of Words: It’s Not a Slippery Slope

January 19, 2021 by Gael Spivak | 6 Comments on Running Out of Words: It’s Not a Slippery Slope

It’s almost inevitable. People who say “we’ve gotten too PC” about language will, at some point in the discussion, claim that if we stop using certain words or phrases, we’ll run out of words to write and talk. Arriving at this spot Who is having these discussions and how does this line of thinking work? […]

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Grammar Matters

August 25, 2020 by Gael Spivak | 8 Comments on Grammar Matters

Antecedents and gerunds. En dashes and ellipses. Gripping topics for editors, right? Well, it turns out they’re not gripping for all of us. As one of the admins for the Editors’ Association of Earth groups on Facebook, I read almost every post and comment (one group alone had 310 posts and 5,611 comments in a […]

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Gael Spivak: An Editor’s Top 3

May 5, 2020 by Gael Spivak | Leave a Comment

In this series, experienced editors reflect on their Top 3 tools, rules and suggestions for clients and colleagues. Gael Spivak works in communications for the Government of Canada, where she specializes in plain language writing and editing. An editor for 13 years, Gael has worked on topics that include food safety and food labelling, biotechnology, […]

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Networking, introverts and squirrels

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Networking, Introverts and Squirrels

January 21, 2020 by Gael Spivak | 4 Comments on Networking, Introverts and Squirrels

I used to think I didn’t like networking because I detest small talk and won’t walk into a room of people all by myself. But a few conversations and experiences changed my mind. Connections A friend told me that I’m one of the best networkers she knows. This caught my attention, especially since this friend […]

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Client Relationships for the In-house Editor

February 19, 2019 by Gael Spivak | 4 Comments on Client Relationships for the In-house Editor

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. […]

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