Search

Enter your keywords

Search results

Filed under:

Rosemary Shipton

Commission of Inquiry Reports: A Special Kind of Editing

Tuesday January 12, 2016

Most projects we editors take on involve editing only, but if you’re in the mood for a stretch and enjoy the challenge of handling many different tasks, try editing the reports of commissions of inquiry. These commissions are appointed every now and again by the federal or one of the provincial governments to investigate and […]

Tagged

Tagged

commission of inquiry reports government large teams reports Rosemary Shipton

Filed under:

Rosemary Shipton

How to Become an Editor

Tuesday March 15, 2016

Years ago, we all became editors through a kind of apprentice system. Once you had the ticket — a university degree — you were hired by a publisher or a communications department. There, a senior person on staff whipped you into shape as you did your work, followed a manual and absorbed the atmosphere. No […]

Tagged

Tagged

becoming an editor editing courses Rosemary Shipton seminars training

Filed under:

Omitting Periods? It’s About Genres.

Tuesday July 5, 2016

“Period. Full Stop. Point. Whatever It’s Called, It’s Going Out of Style,” declared a New York Times headline. Noted linguist David Crystal had made some comments observing that the period is not requisite in text messages, and as such is used only “to show irony, syntactic snark, insincerity, even aggression,” as article author Dan Bilefsky […]

Tagged

Tagged

genres James Harbeck Linguistics Frankly periods punctuation style usage

Filed under:

Writing Wrongs in Fiction

Tuesday September 6, 2016

Last month, Paul Cipywnyk wrote here about plausibility and continuity in novels. But what about in screenwriting? Realistic, plausible details and continuity are equally — sometimes more — important on screen, but it can be challenging to ensure them. Now, it doesn’t matter what you’re writing about or in what time period — the research […]

Tagged

Tagged

continuity editor's role film Melva McLean

Filed under:

Virginia Durksen

The Inner Editor: The Voice and Its Vices

Tuesday September 27, 2016

When editors talk about a writer’s “voice,” we usually mean something like a writer’s style or tone or stance. Even if you’ve never given much thought to this term, you’ll know what “voice” means if you can recall a moment when you, as a child, first heard “Don’t use that voice with me, young lady.” It’s a command […]

Tagged

Tagged

editing voice Inner Editor style Virginia Durksen writer's voice

Filed under:

Rosemary Shipton

Those Unpublishable Manuscripts

Tuesday October 11, 2016

We’ve all had them – those manuscripts that arrive on our desks that should not be published. They have little merit in either content or expression, and our initial impulse is to return them immediately. How do we deal with them? If the project comes from a trade publisher, the contract with the author was probably […]

Tagged

Tagged

author-editor relationship editor's role editors at work publishing Rosemary Shipton self-publishing

Filed under:

Rosemary Shipton

Succeeding as a Freelancer

Tuesday March 14, 2017

The key to a successful freelance business is a steady supply of projects. First, decide how many hours a week you’d like to work — 20, 40 billable hours? — and then set out to achieve your goal. Your professional life and income will become almost predictable. Here are some suggestions. Develop a strong client […]

Tagged

Tagged

business of editing business practices editorial skills editorial training editorial workflow freelance editors freelancing marketing Rosemary Shipton self-employed editors

Filed under:

Lost and Found

Tuesday October 3, 2017

Over the years I’ve done a lot of freelance fiction editing, mostly developmental. I send off the manuscripts with a critical analysis, a lot of developmental markup and some copy editing. Some of the authors go on to be published; their autographed works are on my bookshelves. Of the ones not published, about half come […]

Tagged

Tagged

author-editor relationship clients developmental editing Melva McLean

Filed under:

Mentorship: Where the Learners Teach and the Teachers Learn

Tuesday October 24, 2017

Having a mentor is often invaluable for workers in their early to middle careers. Courses, study groups, guest speakers and conferences all help them learn their trade. But one-on-one interaction with a wise and supportive mentor is an incredibly important component of the learning curve. Let’s not forget, though, how much an experienced professional can […]

Tagged

Tagged

Anita Jenkins editorial skills mentee mentor mentoring mentorship training

Filed under:

Marion Soubliere

Perks of Being a Federal Supplier Aboard ProServices

Tuesday May 8, 2018

The Government of Canada is eager to buy from small businesses. My 2017 post Winning Contracts With the Government of Canada explained how to register as a supplier to this annual $15-billion to $20-billion market. How to Market Your Services to the Feds, meanwhile, suggested ways to continually keep your small firm top-of-mind with federal buyers. […]

Tagged

Tagged

business practices federal contracts freelance editors government editing Government of Canada Marion Soubliere marketing small businesses translators