Free (or Cheap) Tools for Freelance Editors: Part 3

Back in April, Editors Canada released the revised edition of Professional Editorial Standards, and we noticed the addition of IDEA (inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility) concepts. Understanding how language can be biased, coded, inaccessible, harmful or careless is foundational to the work we do as editors. 

In this final article of our series on free or low-cost tools for freelance editors, we share some of the resources we consult to ensure our work remains informed by IDEA principles — as well as two other fun resources for those who love investigating the minutiae of language.

IDEA reference tools

The Conscious Style Guide

On the website The Conscious Style Guide, Karen Yin gathers articles, databases and other resources to encourage writers and editors to think about how words can be used to represent and empower voices from diverse communities. 

The site is categorized into topics like “Ability + Disability,” “Age,” “Appearance,” “Ethnicity, Race + Nationality,” “Gender, Sex + Sexuality” and more. Each topic includes links to toolkits and style guides, articles about community practices, media debates about usage (including who should write about whom) and much more. 

Earlier this year, Yin published a hard-copy companion to the site, The Conscious Style Guide: A Flexible Approach to Language That Includes, Respects, and Empowers. Yin divides the book into five stages: prepare, plan, practice, pause and persuade. These chapter titles offer a process of thinking and writing about communities to which we do not belong. While the book contains similar guidance to the website, it is an invitation for writers, editors and anyone working with marginalized communities to approach their work with clear intentions.

The Diversity Style Guide

In 2016, San Francisco State University journalism professor Rachele Kanigel transformed the Diversity Style Guide — which had been a PDF since the 1990s — into a free website. Kanigel aimed to make writing about individuals from diverse communities a more informed, nuanced process. 

Today, the frequently updated website provides definitions, history and context for more than 700 words, which you can search for by letter or by using the “Topic Glossary.” Click on the “Drugs and Alcohol Glossary,” for example, and you can jump to words like “addiction” and “treatment,” which are paired with information on how they should be used. 

Elements of Indigenous Style

“Indigenous Peoples add their voices to the argument that it is important for any national or cultural group to have input into the documentation of its history, philosophies and reality as a basic matter of cultural integrity,” writes the late Gregory Younging in his first chapter in Elements of Indigenous Style. “In some respects, this is especially pressing for Indigenous Peoples in Canada and other parts of the world” (emphasis in original), given the legacy of settler colonialism. 

Elements of Indigenous Style started as Younging’s master’s thesis, and it provides crucial advice for anyone editing work by or about Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian context. The book provides a history of the portrayal of Indigenous Peoples in literature, as well as case studies and discussions of cultural rights and culturally appropriate publishing practices. It also functions as a practical resource, offering a list of appropriate and inappropriate terminology and the traditional names of some Indigenous Nations. And it addresses common editorial concerns, such as whether to italicize words of Indigenous origin, avoiding possessives that undermine Indigenous sovereignty (such as “Canada’s Indigenous Peoples” or “Indigenous Peoples of Canada”) and how to edit stories of trauma. 

Holly Vestad: Reading this book many years ago marked a significant moment in my career. It made me realize how practices I (wrongly) viewed as standard, such as when to capitalize a word or not, can fall in line with the legacy of colonialism. I’m very much looking forward to the second edition’s publication in 2025, as well as the Indigenous Editors Association’s related webinar in October. 

Plain language

Plain language is an essential practice for anyone writing or editing for a broad audience. The International Plain Language Federation (IPLF) defines plain language as communication structured to be clear enough that “readers can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information.” This is a big part of improving accessibility in writing and editing: using plain language demonstrates that the author is writing with their audience at the forefront. 

If you are editing for the public sector in Canada, the Government of Canada has useful information on plain language, accessibility and inclusive communication. Plain Language Association International also has a handy guide called “What Is Plain Language?”

Alex Benarzi: Accessible design benefits everyone. Plain language benefits readers who have a harder time understanding complex text, and providing information quickly and unambiguously saves everyone time and energy. As a content writer and editor, I strive to develop accessible content without sacrificing the writer’s voice. 

Plain language is not without controversy. There is an argument that it is an oversimplified, condescending style. The Government of Canada explains that plain language is about communicating “information that the audience needs to know in a way that they can easily understand.” However, there are instances when adhering to plain language might conflict with an author’s distinct style or voice. As editors, we are tasked with balancing a need for accessibility and preserving each author’s voice.

Reference tools for logophiles

OneLook

OneLook is a free aggregate of dictionaries. It brings together more than 1,000 sources, from dictionaries like Merriam-Webster and Collins to reference materials like the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, which dates back to 1911. This valuable tool provides a snapshot of how a word is used across a wide variety of contexts. If you are fact-checking historical fiction or ensuring that a word choice suits the author’s intended audience, OneLook saves you the trouble of consulting a variety of books or webpages by giving you what you need in one convenient list. 

Beyond definitions, OneLook also offers a visual representation of a word’s usage, including its appearance in books and song lyrics.

Unfortunately, the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition is not included in OneLook’s database. However, Editors Canada provides free access to members.

Grammar Girl

Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl resources include a podcast, web articles and books. She explores the fundamentals of grammar and word usage, including how to use a semicolon, how to distinguish between who and whom, and how to properly use the word that. At the time of writing, the podcast has just over 1,000 episodes. 

While earlier content was short — as implied by the “Quick and Dirty Tips” brand — Fogarty has expanded her content to include interesting etymological stories (why are they called hot dogs?), current topics that concern editors and writers (when and how should you cite AI chatbots?) and interviews with people in the industry. 

In “The Hidden Stories of African American English with Dr. Sonja Lanehart,” for example, Lanehart discusses the forthcoming Oxford Dictionary of African American English.

Wrapping up

This post concludes our series, but you can always review the previous posts to learn about free and low-cost tools for enhancing your organizational and editing skills.

What reference tools do you like to use? 

About the co-author

Holly Vestad is a freelance editor specializing in memoir and non-fiction, based on the unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. She has an MA in English literature and has held many writing workshops in the university setting. She is also a writing tutor at the McGill Writing Centre and the chair of Editors Canada’s career builder committee.

Alex Benarzi began his editing career in 2020, connecting with clients as he obtained his certificate in editing through Simon Fraser University. Most of his freelance work has been in fiction and academic writing. Alex is also passionate about accessibility in language and in practice. As a fiction writer as well as an editor, he believes in bridging atypical and accessible writing. In tandem, writers and editors have the power to see the world differently and communicate it clearly. Alex cares deeply about community, bringing writers and editors together in an increasingly isolated industry.

___

Previous post from Alex Benarzi and Holly Vestad: Free (or Cheap) Tools for Freelance Editors: Part 2

The Editors’ Weekly is the official blog of Editors Canada. Contact us.